When Night Falls, We Rise
by Mackie Effing Mad
Summary: Annabel Riley fell in love with the night, the only time she could see her bf that her parents hated. She thought he was her everything,but when Ash Redfern and his sisters move in, what will Annabel do when Ash can bring her closer than ever to the night
1. Midnight Meet Up

**Hey there ;] how's it goin? Thanks for reading this; I appreciate it, especially because my other stories haven't been much of a success. This is kind of a copy of ****Daughters of Darkness ****but without Mary-Lynette. I absolutely love Mare, but I wanted to do my own version of the story and to do that I felt I absolutely **_**had **_**to put my own character in her place. Forgive me if you don't like that idea, maybe I'll make a story with her sometime too. So, with that said (typed?) please enjoy :D [I don't own anyone except for my o.c.s although you probably knew that ;D]**

**Chapter 1: Midnight Meet up**

The wind was surprisingly settled tonight. The trees were mostly still, except for when the occasional gust of wind blew gently and rustled their leaves. I loved being out at this time, when most people were in bed or silently watching a little midnight TV, but tonight I was waiting for someone to join me. Another wind blew and tousled my midnight black hair around my face. I huffed and considered tying it up, fiddling with the rubber band on my wrist, but when warm arms wrapped around my waist I decided it could wait. "Miss me?" My boyfriend, Dante, asked, holding me so close that I could feel his breath on my ear. I leaned back, into his chest, and nodded, a small smile pulling at the corners of my mouth. "Did you and Michael go to basketball tryouts today?" I asked him. They were always signing up for sports in the summer, and they always did it together. "Yeah, and as usual we were the best ones there," He swirled me around to face him, and with a wink added, "Probably wishin' they only had to have two players on the team by now." I laughed at his cockiness, this was not unlike him. "I'm sure they are, Danny," I said with a sarcastic smile. He grinned a lopsided grin and kissed me on the cheek. I guess you could consider me lucky to be with him. He was like the popular head-of-the-football-team type that you see in movies. He was tall, dirty blonde, well built, and definitely popular. He had high cheekbones and a broad smile with silver-blue eyes. Honestly I didn't know what he saw in me. I was skinny with only slight curves, with long, wavy, black hair that cascaded down my back. I was only five foot five, not too tall but not exactly short either. My lips were thin and pale pink, and my eyes were light gray. I wasn't exactly what you'd call hot, but I guess I was kind of pretty. "So how've you been? Miserable without me?" He asked with a smirk. I pouted and nodded, "I don't know what I would've done if I had to wait any longer to see you." He laughed and pulled me into his chest, letting his hand rest on the small of my back. "It's okay now," He mock-comforted me, the smile that was surely on his face clear in his voice, "I'm just glad I made it in time." I laughed and shoved him playfully. "I can tell," I teased, tousling his hair with my fingertips. He leaned forward slightly, so his face was right above mine, and hovered there for a minute. I smiled up at him, making it as flirty as I could manage. He grinned back at me and the next thing I knew his lips were on mine. I smiled wider against his lips and wrapped my arms around his neck, standing on my toes to bring me closer. His arms were almost instantly around my waist, pulling me even closer to his body. I could feel the heat radiating from his skin and I enjoyed the way it seemed to consume me. "Annabel," He murmured my name against my lips as we kissed in that small park in Briar Creek.

**Like a boss! Ha-ha, what'cha think? Good? Bad? Let me know how you like it. I know it was short but I'm only doing this so short to see how you guys liked it. I'll be working on the second chapter and I'll try to update as much as possible. Please Review and tell me how you liked it, otherwise, like my paranoid self, I'll think no one's reading xD. Awright…Mackie out ;] see ya next chapter.**


	2. Ms B's interesting family

** Heya. This is Mackie again, with the second chapter of When Night Falls, We Rise. I hope you guys liked it so far, and I'll try to make this one longer than the last chapter. I really enjoy writing this and I hope you like reading it, it means a lot. :D Every review I get means the world to me, and if you have any ideas for the story I will consider them, for sure ;] I promise. So, with that, I think we're ready to start.**

**Chapter 2: Ms. B's interesting family**

I woke up to sun shining in on my face. Apparently I was stupid enough to forget to close the curtains in my room. "Dammit!" I growled when I looked at the clock. Seven in the morning? Really? Since when was the fucking sun out this early? I let out a yell of frustration as I slid off of my bed, knowing that any attempt to fall back asleep would be a waste of time. I grumbled to myself as I clambered into the shower and washed up slowly. The hot water raining down on my bare skin helped a lot with my grogginess, and after a while, I felt my anger melt away into indifference. I had nothing planned for today, and I didn't want to spend the whole day holed up in my house like a hermit, so I might as well calm down and figure out what the hell to do. When I jumped out of the shower fifteen minutes later I still had no idea what to do for the day. I was getting a little irritated. I lived in such a boring little town; it had to be a crime to be this boring. I thought of going over to Ms. Burdock's place, to see if her nieces that mom had told me about had moved in, and to see if she had any work for me today. On days like today, when there was nothing to do and I had all the time in the world on my hands, I helped out Ms. B, who was getting a little too old to do much of anything. When I dried off, I made my way out of my bathroom and over to my closet, ready to get dressed. I pulled on my bra and panties, and then searched around the closet for something nice to wear. I pulled out neon green varsity crop top I had gotten from deb a while back, along with a black tank top and some dark, distressed, denim shorts. I pulled on some fishnet leggings before slipping into the shorts and a pair of combat boots. I pulled on the two shirts and brushed through my hair quickly, eager to get out of the house and do something. I sprayed lightly with some random perfume from bath and body works and brushed my teeth before hurrying out of the door and down the staires. Remy, our house keeper, sat at the table feeding my baby brother, Artie, and my other brother, Graham, sat at the end of the table. I tousled his hair as I walked past, "Morning Graham Cracker, morning Rem," I said, snatching my key off of the counter. "Good morning, Annabel, how was your sleep?" Remy asked pleasantly, which meant she was on to me. What she meant was _how was your secret meeting?_ I gave her an innocent smile, "Short and sweet. Wish it could've been longer." She grinned at me and nodded. Graham looked back and forth between us, a puzzled look on his face, then he shrugged before going back to his bowl of lucky charms that he mixed with frosted flakes. "Well, I'm off. Tell dad I went to Ms. B's to work," I told her. Remy nodded her pretty little head and went back to feeding Artie, who looked like he wasn't ready to make her endeavor easy. I gave her a sympathetic smile and headed out the door, locking it behind me. My lime green pickup truck sat in the driveway like the little angel it was. It was a fairly new truck, I had had it for about four months, and it was still shiny and still had that new car smell. I climbed into it with the help of the metal bar at the bottom of the door. As I started the truck, I realized with mild amusement that my shirt matched my vehicle. With a small, self-mocking smirk I pulled out of my driveway and drove down the dirt rode to Ms. B's house.

The drive was about ten minutes. Ten minutes of nothing but dirt road. I rolled my window back up and let my hair down from the ponytail I had put it in. I stepped out (more like jumped out) of the truck and walked up the staires to the front porch, avoiding the hole that only people who had been here many times would know was there. I knocked politely on the door, sticking my hands in my pockets afterwards to wait. I waited for about a minute without any answer. I huffed and knocked again, a little harder this time. Ms. B's hearing was probably going. When she still didn't answer, I rolled my eyes and pounded on the door. "Hellooo?" I called, hoping she would hear me. Suddenly the door opened, revealing a beautiful girl with brown hair that fell onto her shoulders. "May I help you?" She asked politely, eyeing me somewhat suspiciously. "Uh…is Ms. B here?" I asked, a little stricken by her looks. The girl went rigid, but she quickly recovered and fidgeted nervously with her hair. "Um, no, not at the moment. She's gone on vacation. She won't be back for a while," She said, hesitating a little. It was my turn to eye her suspiciously. "Oh. Okay then, well I'm Annabel, you must be Ms. B's niece," I said, holding my hand out towards her for her to shake. She nodded. "I'm-" "Rowan? Who is it?" A rough voice asked from behind her. "Oh, this is Annabel, a friend of Aunt Opal," The girl, Rowan, replied to a tough looking blonde girl behind her, "Annabel this is Kestrel, my sister." I smiled warmly at her, "Hi there." She nodded a greeting to me, eyeing me in the same suspicious manner Rowan had. What was going on here? Don't tell me these girls were insane hermits. I sighed and lightly kicked the toe of my boot against the floor of the porch. "Well, I came to see if Ms. B needed any help with the goats or something. Do you need any help? I have nothing to do today so if you need anything you can tell me, I usually help around here anyway," I said with another friendly smile. Rowan, who seemed to have regained her composure, smiled lightly and shook her head. "No thank you, we are adjusting well. Thank you for offering though." I hesitated, then smiled and nodded, "Sure, anytime. If you need any help I live just up that way," I pointed in the direction of my house, "Really if you need anything at all, I'd be happy to help." Rowan thanked me again and we said our goodbyes. As I turned to go I almost ran into another girl with long blonde hair and silvery-green eyes. "Oh, sorry," I apologized as my shoulder hit hers lightly. "That's okay, but, um, who are you?" She asked. "Oh Jade! This is Annabel, she was Aunt Opal's friend," Rowan said from the doorway. "Oh! It's nice to meet you Annabel! I'm Jade," She held out her hand for me to shake with a large grin. Well, she was a little more…friendly. I smiled back and shook her hand, deciding to go with it. "Nice to meet you too!" I replied, "I better go, there's bound to be _some_ place around here that needs extra help." She smiled and said a polite goodbye before we went our separate ways. It was only when I was back in my truck, already driving away from Ms. B's, when I realized a slip in Rowan's speech. _She was a friend of Aunt Opal's. _Was? I _am _a friend of their aunt, to some extent anyway. The "was" would indicate that we weren't friends, or whatever, any more. Or that something had happened to Ms. B. I quickly shook the thought from my head. Yeah right! Like what? Her own nieces murdered her? Oh, sure, like _that_ would happen! I mentally slapped myself for even thinking something was up. Rowan probably just mixed up her words, nothing more. I sighed and pulled back into my driveway, taking back my keys and getting out of my car. I thought about driving over to Dante's to see what he was doing, but it seemed like a long shot that he was even still in town. _Summer really sucks! _I thought, irritated, _At least I have something to occupy my time when school's in._ When I opened the door and slid inside, I heard a conversation going on. It was Remy and someone else, a male. It wasn't my brother, he would be long gone by now, out with some friends at the river. My dad was working, so that ruled him out too. Artie was too small to talk, and, unfortunately, our male German Shepard also could not speak. So, you have yourself a secret boyfriend too, eh Remy? I grabbed the box of frosted flakes on the counter and opened it silently, shoving a small handful in my mouth and making my way to the hallway that would hide me from the sight of almost anyone in the living room. I caught sight of an ash blonde someone with his back to me, sitting in the armchair right in front of Rem. I started listening in to their conversation as soon as I heard my name. "Oh, yes. Annabel helps out a lot at Ms. Burdock's. She really enjoys it, too, from what I can tell. If only I could get her to help out here." Sorry, Rem, not likely. But more importantly, why was this guy so interested in me helping out an elderly lady in town? As far as I knew I had never seen him here before. "Ah, I see. How nice of her," The guy said, he sounded young. I raised an eyebrow at the back of his head. Suddenly he turned his head toward my general direction. _Turn back! Right now! Don't you dare turn this way! I swear to god if you- _"Hey there," He called, wiggling his fingers at me. He hadn't even looked! "Annabel? Annabel, is that you?" Remy called. I abandoned the cereal, not wanting to look like a pig, and walked out of my hiding place into the living room. "Yeah," I said to her standing in between them, "and hi," I returned the blonde's finger wiggle with a sweet smile, trying to hide my embarrassment. As soon as I saw him, it was all I could do to keep up my cheerful façade. He was…gorgeous. Stunning. Amazing. Another word I can't think of. "Hi," I repeated in a breathy voice, almost unconsciously. "You already said that," He chuckled, holding out a hand, "I'm Ash Redfern. Opal Burdock's great-nephew."


	3. Ash Redfern

**Hey, I'm back, with yet another chapter in When Night Falls, We Rise. I'm really glad people are actually reading it and enjoying it! I'm just kind of making this up as I go and I'm glad that it's turning out even better than I thought it would. Thanks for reading you guys and review please. I appreciate it! So, let's get started then. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Ash Redfern**

I stopped halfway to his hand. Had Ms. B ever said anything about a nephew? Funny how when you need to remember something it seems to recede back so far that you won't be able to reach it until you no longer have any need for it. I realized how stupid I must have looked just standing there with my hand only halfway to his and, trying to hide my blush of embarrassment, I took his hand and shook it. Before I could let my hand drop though, something happened. Something weird. A strong shock went through me, like someone had stuck my finger into an electrical plug. There was a light pink haze around me, and I suddenly felt slightly dizzy. We both pulled back like our lives depended on it. "Hmm," Remy hummed through pursed lips, which meant she was nervous and maybe a bit uncomfortable.

"What was that?" I asked, talking to no one in particular. My fingers were still tingling from the experience. I looked at him with an accusing look, "What'd you do?" He eyed me, looking slightly offended.

"I didn't do a thing!" Was all he said. I frowned at him, crossing my arms over my chest. We stood there, glaring at each other until Remy cleared her throat nervously.

"Well it's good to have new faces around here isn't it?" Remy asked, trying to clear the slightly awkward atmosphere with small talk. I plastered a forced smile on my face and dropped my arms, trying to at least be polite.

"Yeah, real nice. How long are you here for?" I asked, cocking my head to the side and giving him an innocent look. I took this time to study him. He looked majorly unhappy, all traces of his laid back attitude gone without a trace. "Oh I remember, now! Ms. B did talk about you! She told me about you once, but I had no idea you were her nephew," I said, suddenly remembering the conversation I had had with the old woman a few months back.

"Great-nephew," He said, as if it was some monumental fact that should always be included, "What did she say, exactly?"

"That you were only good for causing trouble," I replied with a small smirk. His face seemed to soften as we changed subjects, and a small smirk even found its way to his mouth.

"Well, she knows me all too well," He said lightly. I raised an eyebrow and gave him a half-smile.

"So, why are you here anyway, if you don't mind me asking," I asked.

"I came to check on my sisters, actually," He replied.

"Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade, you mean?" I pressed. He nodded. "Oh, they seem pretty cool," I said, going for a light-sounding voice. _Maybe he knows something about why they act so weird._ I thought, eyeing him with interest.

"You've met? I didn't realize, I told him you hadn't," Remy said, there was a questioning look in her eyes. I nodded.

"I went there this morning, remember? I came back cause they didn't need any help," I told her. She nodded as if she finally got it. Suddenly, in the other room, Artie started crying loudly. Our dog, Yeti, came running out from wherever he had been sleeping and cowered behind me.

"Is that a sibling of yours?" Ash asked, looking back at me.

"Yeah, my little brother, Artie, why?" I asked, confused by the turn in conversation.

"Any other brothers or sisters?" He kept the questioning going.

"Uh-huh, one other fifteen year old brother, Graham," I replied, "Why do you need to know?"

"I like to keep track of my sisters' friends," Ash answered simply, as if it was the most normal thing to say in the world. I raised both eyebrows this time.

"Why, do you need to approve or something?" I snapped.

"Yes, actually," He said, "We're a _very_ old-fashioned family."

"What, so you're in charge or something?" I scoffed. Unbelievable.

"Yes. Out here, anyway, back home my father is in charge of us all." He said, then, after tapping my chin with his finger, added, "I like a girl with spirit."

The shock came again, softer this time, but it was there, and it only fueled my already burning anger. Without thinking I pulled back my foot, and nailed him right in the shin. He let out a cry of surprise and pain and gripped his leg, and I crossed my arms over my chest again, a satisfied smile playing on my lips. Remy cried out in surprise, as if she herself had been kicked, and helped him to the door as he hopped around to leave. I followed them out, the grin still on my face. He scowled at me from the yard. I only smiled sweetly and cocked my head to the side. "Did I hurt you, mister?" I asked innocently.

"Not at all," He said sarcastically before turning to leave.

**And we're done. How was it? I tried to change it up a little bit from the actual story, and I made sure to get the kick in there. I stopped here because I got a little writer's block and I need some time to think, otherwise it would have been longer. I'm having a bunch of fun writing this and I'm always open to new ideas for it. Rate and review please, it's much appreciated! Okay then, see you next chapter.**

**-Mackie 3**


	4. Surprise

**Mackie here, with another chapter to add. Great, right? Haha, yeah, thought so. I'm not sure that I'm totally over the writer's block but I'll try my best to make this as long as I can. Tell me any ideas you have for the story and just review to tell me things you like or don't like. I love hearing your opinions on the story and any things you want me to add. So, let's get on with it. Here's chapter 4. {I own nothing…except for o.c.s}**

**Chapter 4: Surprise**

The visit from Ash had me boiling. After he left I retreated to my room with a mini bottle of Coca-Cola to cool down. Remy was mad at me, no doubt, for kicking him like a child. I couldn't help it, but there was no doubt in my mind that he deserved it. I sat in my window seat and sipped my pop, trying to calm down enough to get out of the house. I took comfort in the fact that I would see Dante that night, it'd be better as soon as I saw him. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I reached in to retrieve it. The message was from, surprisingly enough, Dante. _Nice timing. _I thought as I opened the text. As soon as I did I groaned. _Can't make it tonight, surprise practice. Sorry. _I sighed and replied with: _No worries. I'll find something to do…_ I sent it and stuck my phone back into my pocket, rolling my eyes in annoyance. Well, so much for that. I got up from my window and looked around my room for something to do. Nothing, unless I wanted to rearrange my room. Yeah…right. Finishing my drink, I tossed the empty bottle in the trash next to my door, thinking of errands I could run. We _did_ need milk, and my truck could use a refill. I picked up a random notebook and tore out a blank page, taking a pen off of my desk and pulling off the cap with my mouth. I scrawled down a to-do list.

List

Get milk

Go to gas station

I thought for a moment before adding a third errand.

Wash dirty clothes

But that was mostly for Remy, to make up for making her upset. When I thought about it I guessed I should apologize to Ash, too, as much as it killed me. But that was only if I saw him. I prayed to _god_ that I wouldn't see him. I grabbed my small, duct tape wallet that I had made a year ago and stuck it in my front pocket, then made my way down staires. I stopped at the end of the hallway, wondering if I should tell Remy where I was going. I sucked in a deep breath and, making up my mind, I walked quietly into the living room.

"Uh, Rem? I'm gonna go get milk and some gas, I should be back soon, okay?" I informed her softly. She nodded, staring out of the window to her left, avoiding eye contact at all costs. I sighed and stalked to the front door, great, she _was _mad. I grabbed my key from the countertop and opened the door, stepping into the cool weather and locking the door behind me before jumping over the steps to get to my truck. I climbed inside and started the engine, backing out of the driveway carefully and making my way to the gas station. I didn't have the radio on, and I didn't roll my window down, I just sat in silence, moping over the fact that Remy was mad and Dante was busy. Fifteen torturous minutes later, I pulled up to the gas station, where Jeremy Lovett worked. He was a nice guy, but he was kind of a loner, I didn't hang out with him, but we were somewhat friends. He was outside when I pulled up, and he smiled when he saw me. I politely returned the smile and hopped out of the truck, pushing the door shut behind me.

"Hey, Annabel, what do you need?" He asked.

"I just need it filled up," I said, opening the latch just behind the door. He nodded and got right on it. "Hey, can you watch it? I need to run to the store quick. Please?"

"Sure thing, Bell," He smiled at me and nodded. I thanked him and jogged over to the small grocery store that was right next door. The little bell jingled happily when I stepped inside.

"Welcome," I was greeted by a smiling man in his fifties that stood behind the single check-out counter. I smiled warmly at him and made my way to the back of the store, where the freezers were. I located the one percent milk and pulled the door open to grab it. My fingers closed around the handle of the plastic jug and I shivered slightly as the perspiration from it ran over my fingers. I lifted the jug and made my way to the candy isle, grabbing a pack of twizzlers to eat tonight; doing whatever it was I may be doing at that time. I would probably go to the hill I always sat on to watch the moon. It was right across the street from Ms. B's, and it was one of the highest hills in Briar Creek, which is one of the reasons I liked it so much. I slid the jug of milk and the package of licorice onto the counter and the man scanned the barcodes.

"Two-fifty," He said with a smile. I handed him the money and walked out, the bell ringing behind me. I jogged back over to the gas station, where Jeremy had finished filling up my tank.

"Thanks so much, Jer," I smiled handing him a twenty. He grinned at me.

"Any time."

I climbed back into the truck and started to stick the key into the ignition when I spotted something. Something that I wished I could've forgotten as soon as I saw it. Dante was pressed up against Bunny Marten, his mouth pressing hard against hers, right up against the grocery store. My stomach dropped along with my jaw. "Surprise practice my _ass!_" I growled. I sucked in a shaky breath and started the truck, pulling out of the gas station quickly. I drove out and sped down the road towards my house.

**Aw damn. The wonderfully depressing fourth chapter. Did ya like it? Rate and review please. I tried to make it long but I'm worn out tonight. Thanks for reading the fourth chapter.**

**-Mackie**


	5. That's what brothers are for

**Okay, so here's the fifth chapter. Honestly I thought it would take me a lot longer to get to this one but I guess not. I…am slightly proud of myself :D. I think I may be over my writer's block, but it may come back…I hope not. Thanks to everyone who Reviewed and favorited and all that stuff. I appreciate it big time. ;] Thanks for the support. Let's get started, shall we? {I don't own anything but O.c.s, awright? ;]} **

**Chapter 5: That's what brothers are for**

I sat alone in my room, leaning against the wall my bed was up against and staring at a small stain the floor. The lights were off; I hadn't bothered to turn them on when I had gotten home. The scene of Dante and Bunny kept replaying in my head until I thought I would go insane. I listened distantly to Remy's humming that traveled from the kitchen vent to the one in my room. At least one of us was happy. The front door opened and slammed shut, and I wondered if it was Graham or Mom and Dad. When I came home Remy was already working on dinner and Artie sat in his highchair, teasing Yeti with his made-up language. No one else had gotten home yet. I wasn't sure that I would be able to face all of them when we all sat down to eat, especially when they asked how my day had gone. _Oh it was just wonderful, Mother and Father! I met the new girls who look at me like I'm an axe murderer, and then I met their brother, who I kicked in the leg like a five year old because he thinks he can choose his sister's friends. Oh, and the best part is, I found out that my boyfriend of two years was cheating on me for god knows how long!_ Yeah, that would go over well. My parents already hated Dante, they didn't even know I was dating him, and this would just show them that they were right about him. The last thing I needed was one of those I-told-you-so moments. A knock at the door snapped me out of my bitter thoughts.

"Yeah?" I called. _I'm really not in the mood right now. Go. Away!_

"It's me," I heard Graham's soft voice say. "Can I come in?"

_No. _"Sure." The door opened slowly and he stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind him. I looked at him. He was tall, taller than me. He had shaggy black hair that fell into his eyes, which were a light gray. He was skinny, and he wore a black and white checkered button-up shirt with light gray skinny jeans. His fairly new snake-bites had been put in. I forced a smile. "What's up, Graham cracker?" He had stopped complaining about the nickname a couple of months ago, knowing I wouldn't stop no matter what. He sat on the end of my bed and studied me for a while.

"You already saw." It wasn't a question. He always saw right through me, in a way that others couldn't. My smile faltered and then dropped all together. I nodded and looked away, not trusting my voice _or_ my eyes. He sighed, a tired-sounding sound. "I'm not gonna bother with the 'I told you so'. You obviously don't need that right now." I smiled bitterly.

"What I need is to beat the hell out of him, that's what _I _need," I replied nastily. Graham looked at me with a small smile.

"I'll help." I laughed a little at that. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

"And go where?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He cocked his head to the side and gave a smirk.

"Where do you think?" He asked, "You're hill, where else?" I grinned and nodded, happy for an excuse to get out of here. He grinned back and helped me up off of my bed, and we headed out the door. Remy smiled at us when we entered the kitchen. "We're going out for a while, don't wait up," Graham told her. Remy nodded.

"Don't be too late; I don't want your parents worrying."

"Alright." It was already dark out, and the air was cool and calming. I was glad Graham had gotten me to go out, because who knew how long I would've moped in my room? We both climbed into my truck and I started it up, ready to get out there before mom and dad got home. I cracked my window when we got on the road and Graham turned on the radio to a random rock station. I sucked in a breath of the cold, fresh air and relaxed a little against my seat. The sky was clear tonight, and the moon was bright, it cast strange looking shadows on the road. I drove slowly, so it took about twenty minutes to get to the hill. I parked alongside of the road and hopped out of the truck, locking it after I heard Graham's door shut. He gave me a sideways glance, "Race ya to the top." And then he took off running.

"Bastard!" I laughed as I ran after him. Needless to say I couldn't catch up, and the fact that it was uphill didn't work in my favor either. He laughed along with me as I finally made it to the top of the hill. We laughed like that for a while, lying down in the grass to catch our breath. I looked back towards Ms. B's house, right across the street. "Hey, have you met the new girls yet?" I asked him. He looked back, following my gaze.

"I ran into one of them, Jade, I think. But I haven't met the other two," He replied looking back at me, "Why?" I shook my head with a smile.

"Never mind." I stared back over my shoulder at Ms. B's back yard. Had she really gone on vacation? On her own? At her age? Something didn't seem right there. As I stared into the yard, I saw three figures emerge from the back door, looking around to see if anyone was around. "Graham, get down," I said, pressing the rest of my body against the hill. He didn't question anything, just dropped down beside me and looked on to the back yard. I didn't know why exactly I didn't want to be seen; it was just that the girls were acting so strangely, I wanted to find out what was going on. One of them, Kestrel by the looks of it, had a shovel.

"What're they doing?" Graham asked beside me, tensing up a little bit. So I wasn't the only one who felt that something was wrong here. I shrugged, focusing all my attention on the scene before me. The three girls took turns digging a pit in the grass. About thirty minutes in, they stopped, reaching in and pulling out a black trash bag. I went rigid and I felt Graham go absolutely still beside me. I looked over at him, my eyes wide in horror.

"You don't think…" I let the sentence hang in the air, drawing in a deep breath.

"I don't know what to think. I mean, no one answered the door when I went over there a few days ago, but I didn't think about this." We watched in silence as the sisters filled in the hole and carried the bag into the forest. Without hesitation, I jumped up and made my way to my truck. Graham followed, and reached me just as I pulled out a small flashlight from the passenger side dashboard. "What're you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna find out what they're hiding."

**How was it? It took me a while with this one cuz I had stuff to do. I'm busy preparing for my school outing and my eighth grade graduation. So yeah, busy busy busy. I hope you guys like this chapter, tell me any ideas you have and anything you like or don't like about the whole story. I'm glad so many people are reading this! So cool of you guys, thank you bunches. Laterz. -Mackie**


	6. RedHanded

**Hey! Mackie is back with yet another chapter of When Night Falls, We Rise. I really love writing this! It's so fun to see your comments on it. I'm glad you guys are liking it so far. Enjoy the sixth chapter! {I own nuttin but the O.C.}**

**Chapter 6: Red-handed**

Graham just nodded, ready to follow me into any kind of situation. I gave him a quick, thankful smile and started towards the forest, trying to prepare myself for whatever I was walking into. Graham followed close behind me. I stopped at the edge of the forest and sucked in a deep breath.

"Ready?" Graham asked, squeezing my shoulder comfortingly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I sighed and started walking again. The forest was dark, the trees blocking out most of the moons light. I flipped on my flashlight and listened. I heard whispering not too far ahead, but I couldn't make out the words. "Up ahead." I whispered to Graham, stepping ahead of him. We tip-toed forward, careful not to step on anything capable of alerting the three sisters to our presence. When we came within hearing distance of the sisters, we dropped down behind some bushes.

"So is this where we're gonna put her?" Jade asked, dropping the part of the bag she had been holding. The others nodded silently, gently laying the black trash bag on the ground. Kestrel started to dig. _Her_. So it was a body, possibly Ms. B's body. We watched in silence as each of the sisters took their turns digging a hole, deeper and deeper into the ground. Suddenly Kestrel tensed up and swiveled around, staring in our direction. Graham sucked in a sharp breath and I was sure we'd been caught. Then the blonde did something I never expected her to do, she crouched down, arched back, and went flying through the air, about three feet to the left of our bushes. I stretched my neck to see what she was doing, and I immediately wished I hadn't. Kestrel was bent over a deer, dodging its flying hooves with a speed that no human could accomplish. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around the trapped animal's neck and twisted, snapping it very audibly. Jade and Rowan joined Kestrel around the dead deer, and they all sunk their teeth into it. I jumped up without thinking, and Graham was beside me in a second.

"The hell?" He mumbled, almost to himself, but the girls seemed to hear it, detaching themselves from the deer and swiveling around to face us.

"Graham?" Jade whispered, looking as terrified as he did. We were all frozen in terror, staring at each other. There were traces of the deer's blood on their lips, and I found myself fighting off a gag.

"What are you two doing here?" Kestrel asked, terror turning into anger. I gulped down a breath of air, trying to force oxygen into my lungs.

"We saw you guys dig that bag out of the ground, and we got curious," I admitted, unsure of what else to say. Kestrel scowled.

"And you just can't stay out of other people's business can you?"

"Not when they murder their own aunt!" They all stiffened at that.

"We aren't the ones who killed her," Rowan spoke calmly, "We are still trying to figure that part out."

"Y-you didn't?" I asked. Should I really believe them? It would explain the suspicious looks I got earlier.

"No, we didn't. And if you would have stayed out of this, we _wouldn't_ have to kill _you_!" Kestrel growled. My breath caught.

"W-what?" Kill _us? _I took a step back. "Why do you have to do that?"

"Because now you know."

"Know?"

"That we're vampires," Jade interjected. I blew out a deep breath. I had been trying to deny it, trying to forget what I had seen, but then my eyes would wander over to the dead deer, puncture wounds in its neck.

"And we have to die for that?" Graham spoke up, his eyes burning holes into Jade. Something seemed to be happening between them. Graham looked betrayed and hurt, like he thought she would never do anything to hurt anybody. But what would he know; he only just met her a few hours earlier. And Jade looked like this was tearing her up inside.

"No humans are supposed to know of the Night World," Rowan spoke quietly, her voice heavy with regret. Then she seemed to get an idea, "Kestrel, what if we just erased their memory of tonight?"

"What they just saw was too traumatizing for them, it would mess up their minds," She replied with a final tone to their voice.

"Look, I promise we won't tell anyone! Just let us go, please," I pleaded more on Graham's behalf than my own.

"No matter what you promise, we don't know if we can trust you," Kestrel stated. Jade mumbled something under her breath.

"What's that?" Kestrel asked her sister.

"I said I think he's my _soulmate_! Okay?" She said, her voice rising in volume. Rowan gasped quietly and Kestrel just stared

"He's not your soulmate. If he was your soulmate you wouldn't _think_ anything, you would know," Kestrel said.

"Kestrel we can't kill them, what about a blood tie? They wouldn't be able to tell anyone then, and it doesn't involve killing anyone." Rowan tried to talk their sister out of it.

Kestrel's eyebrow shot up as she looked at her sister. "Huh." She said, "I….guess."

"A blood tie?" Graham said with a questioning look.

"It basically makes us family forever. Once, an ancestor of ours had a feud with witches, and when he couldn't have kids, he had to apologize and do a kinship ceremony, or a blood tie, with them. So, basically, all the Redferns are part witch." Jade explained.

"So when we're family, you can't betray us, and vice versa," Rowan added.

So witches were real too. I started to wonder just how many fictional monsters I had read about as a child weren't actually fictional.

"Okay, let's do it then," I said, a small smile on my face.

**And that ends it for chapter six. I had to hurry with this one because I have to leave for the weekend today, so sorry if it sucks. I won't be able to write all weekend, cause I can't take my computer with to my dad's, but I'll try to work fast when I get back. It's summer and schools out so I think I should have a lot more time on my hands. I'll update as much as I can, thanks for reading. Rate and Review please. I hope I have a lot of reviews to read when I get back!**

**Bye**

**Mackie**


	7. This is the Night World

**Chapter 7 is up and running. About damn time if I do say so myself. I am sooo sorry for the longer wait on this one, guys. I had a lot going on and when I was gonna work on it, something else came up and I was separated from my precious laptop for another week. So, yell at me all you want, but I promise that I will work more on this story, and try to come up with new ideas for other stories. It's getting there, and I think, if I can get the rest of the series read, that I'll make more stories about Annabel and Ash, and everybody else. I already have ideas ;] which I may put at the end of the chap. So with that said, get going and read :D {I don't own the Night World series, if I did, giant killer bees would attack the earth :D for no apparent reason}**

**Chapter 7: This is the Night World**

It felt like a shot. The fangs pierced my skin and for only a second, a sharp pain shot through me and then there was just a lot of pressure as she withdrew blood from my neck. I had imagined this hurting, thinking of the deer and how it had thrashed around like mad, but the pain was short and could hardly be counted as pain in the first place. And when she bit, it was like I could see inside her head. Her mind was warm and red, like a comfortable fire in a living room. It was fuzzy, and kind of rounded. Then Rowan pulled back and it was over. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and picked up a stick from the ground, testing its sharpness against her skin.

"What're you doing?" I asked nervously.

"Every being has a substance that weakens them. For werewolves it's silver, iron for witches and wood for vampires," Rowan replied, sliding the stick against her wrist, "nothing else here will cut our skin."

"That's not what I meant," I said, my voice shaking a bit. Without a word, Rowan offered her arm to me, blood seeping from the thin, shallow cut on her wrist. Shakily, I lowered my head, brushing the hair back from my face, and started sucking up the blood from the wound. The blood didn't taste like copper and salt, like I thought it would, but something rich and warm and refreshing. All too soon it was over and Rowan pulled away. I felt like I could run the distance from here to India and back without breaking a sweat. Well, if there wasn't an ocean in the way. Next was Kestrel, her mind was golden and glittery, with sharp, knife-like edges. Lastly, Jade, whose mind was a silver color and lacey, shaped into a sphere like a snow globe. I looked over at Graham, who was staring at Jade with a look of wonder and adoration. She stared back with a slight smile, the same look clear in her eyes.

"And now that we share the same blood," Rowan held out her hands, and her two sisters did the same. I snuck a look at Graham, who held fast to Jade's hand and reached out to me with the other. We all locked hands. "We promise to be kin to you, to protect and defend you always." She nodded to me encouragingly.

"We promise to be kin to you, to protect and defend you always," I repeated in a more confident voice than I actually felt.

"That's it," Rowan said with a small smile, "We're family now."

Jade sighed, and sounding relieved, she said, "Now let's go home."

"We have to finish burying Aunt Opal," Kestrel pointed out. And so they did. I watched as Rowan scattered pine needles over the grave. "Another thing you inherit is our blood feud," Kestrel told me lightly, "Which means you help us find the killer."

I nodded, "Well, that was kind of obvious. We're in this, family or not." When we left, we let the deer be, knowing that something else would be along soon to dispose of it one way or another.

_Poor thing, _I thought, glancing back at the carcass on the ground. And for just a moment, as I stared at that empty space behind me, I thought I caught sight of a shadow with greenish-orange eyes, taller than me, which, I admit, wasn't hard, but still too big to be a coyote. As I was about to tell the others, the eyes disappeared, and I was left with a strange emptiness I couldn't explain.

_My imagination, along with some wacked out senses, that's all. _I thought. My senses had sharpened dramatically, so it was easier to make it out of the woods than it had been going in. Graham and Jade walked close by each other, Jade looking up at him every so often, and they helped each other when they got to rough spots. When I caught up with him, I grabbed hold of his warm hand. "I'm happy for you two," I mumbled so only he could hear, I hope.

He smiled at me, squeezing my hand, "Thanks, Bell." I caught him looking at me worriedly though, and without a second thought I knew what he was thinking about. I sighed and leaned against him, letting his arm wrap around my shoulders protectively and closing my eyes for a second.

"I'll be okay," I replied to his silent question. He nodded when I looked up to see his face, but the worried look never left his eyes.

"Okay, so who made you guys vampires?" Graham asked. We were back at the Burdock Farm, sitting in the large, very comfortable furniture Ms. B had picked for her house. Rowan had started a fire in the fire place and was tending to it.

"No one _made_ us vampires, " Jade told us, "We're the lamia."

Graham took on a blank look, "Uh, okay? Which is…?"

"_Us_, the kind of vampires that can have babies, and eat, and drink, and get old if we want, and live in families. It's the easiest way to be a vampire. If you're lamia, you're _born_ a vampire."

"It's basically a race of vampires, get it?" Kestrel said, "There are two different types of vampires, made vampires, the ones that are made by biting, and lamia, the ones born into it. We're lamia, our line goes back a long way."

"We go back the longest," Jade added on, "Redferns go back to prehistoric times."

I just stared for a bit, "But…you three…you don't go back the far _yourselves, _right?"

Rowan tried to hold in laughter, a broad smile creeping onto her face, "I'm nineteen; Kestrel's seventeen and Jade is sixteen. We haven't stopped ageing yet."

I caught Kestrel looking at me, "How old did our aunt look to you?" She asked me, raising an eyebrow.

I thought for a moment, trying to get a picture of the old woman in my head, "I thought that she looked around seventy-five."

"When we saw her last, she looked like she was in her forties. That was ten years ago, when she left the island. She'd been alive for seventy-four years in reality."

"That's what happens to us," Rowan picked up, "if we choose to stop holding off the ageing process, it all catches up to us at once."

"So this island you lived on before you came here…is…that the Night World?" I asked.

The question seemed to catch Rowan off guard, "Oh, no that's not it at all. The island is just where the Night Worlders live without humans. It's a lot easier."

"Unless you consider the part about how they're completely old-fashioned." Kestrel said bitterly, "They still do things the way they did in the sixteenth century, they even made a rule where no one could leave except for boys and men they trusted completely."

_Which includes Ash, I'm guessing,_ I thought. Right before I said anything about Ash, Rowan was speaking again.

"That's the reason we ran away." She explained, "we didn't want to get married when our father told us to. We wanted to see the human world, and how humans lived. We wanted-"

"To eat junk food!" Jade sang, interrupting her sister with a grin, "And wear pants, and read magazines, and watch TV. Everything that we couldn't do there!"

"When our Aunt left the island, she didn't tell anyone where she was going-except me," Rowan continued, "She said she was going to a little town called Briar Creek where her husband's family built a house a hundred and fifty years ago."

I nodded, taking it all in, "So, where _is_ the Night World, then?"

"The Night World isn't a place exactly," Rowan hesitated, "You aren't even supposed to know it exists. There are two rules in the Night World. Never tell a human about the Night World, and never fall in love with a human. The penalty for both is death. But you are family, so…here goes." She took a deep breath and continued, "The Night World is more of a…secret society than anything else. There isn't only vampires, but witches, werewolves, and shape-shifters as well. We're everywhere, you just don't know it."

I shivered. Everywhere? The idea unnerved me, but at the same time intrigued me. To think that there were all of these creatures, thought to be fiction and fantasy, living among us as everyday people.

Graham was smiling warmly at Jade, who was grinning back. "So, you can read minds, right? Anyones?"

"Soulmates can read each other's minds effortlessly," Jade replied. I suddenly felt uncomfortably tingly all over. An image of Ash flashed through my mind, and I didn't know why. When I snapped back to reality, Rowan was talking to Jade.

"What you two have is much better than soulmates," She sighed, " When you're in love, you get to find out about the person first, get to know them. Being soulmates is involuntary, you don't even have to like someone when you meet them, you could be wrong in every way, species, personality, age, but you know that you can never be completely happy again without them." This was getting ridiculous,. I had to say _something_.

"But what if you meet your soulmate and you don't want to be soulmates with that person?" I asked, my voice shaky, "Could you ever…get _rid _of it?" There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, and everyone turned to stare at me.

"I've never heard of one," Rowan replied finally, "But…I guess, you could talk to a witch…if you had that particular problem." I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. Rowan seemed so friendly and understanding, and I desperately needed someone to talk to, someone who would understand and…_help_.

"Rowan-"

Before I could finish though, Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade all looked to the front door like cats listening for something their humans couldn't hear. An instant later, I heard it too. A quick _tap, tap, tap_ and then a loud thud. Someone was at the front door.

Jade jumped up and made for the door. "Hey! Jade, wait!" Graham shouted after her. We all hurried after her to the door, where she stood staring down in horror at something lying motionlessly on the front porch.

**Soooo, was the wait worth it or…not so much? Again, I'm sorry for the wait and you have permission to yell at me all you want. Okay, so, about the ideas, I thought about making this some sort of….trilogy or whatever. Like, this is the first, and then the next one, when Ash leaves, is some letters between them, and then the third is what happens when he comes back. You like? Or no? Idk, review! And tell me what you think! I need a BUNCH of reviews, I don't have many. I really really really wanna hear what you guys think of this, I know I say that a lot, but it's true. It just motivates me to do better on the story. Plus, now, I have another reason for you guys to review, should I make the other two stories after this one? Or not? Let me Know! Thanks for reading!**

**Mackie ;]**


	8. My dear soulmate

**Hey guys! How are ya? I hope you've liked my story so far, which, if you're still reading, I'm guessing you have. . I feel bad for making you guys wait for the last chap so long. I'm trying to make up for it by getting more chapters ready for uploading tonight because, I'm at my grandma's with no internet, so I can't upload. I wrote the rest of the 7****th**** chap and at least some of this one in one night. So yeah, I hope you guys are enjoying these cuz I work really hard :D but I have fun too. So let's get this started then, on with Chapter 8.**

**Chapter 8: My Dear Soulmate **

We all crowded around Jade to see what had happened. I bit back a scream at the sight, and it came out sounding like a pathetic whimper.

"Jesus! Who…who would do something that sick?" Graham exclaimed, pulling me away from the door and closer to him. I grabbed his arm for support and turned away. Rowan and Kestrel grabbed the goat and brought it into the house, laying it on the old rug in the living room. Jade was gasping for air and sobbing at the same time. I knelt beside the goat, trying to see which one it was.

I sucked in a breath, "This is Ethyl." I stroked the goat's broad forehead with my fingertips, feeling like breaking down into sobs myself. She had been my favorite.

"She's dead," Kestrel said, "Can't hurt her." I shot her a warning look.

"Let's take them out," Rowan suggested.

"The hides ruined," Kestrel continued.

"Kestrel-"

"Kestrel, shut the hell _up_!" I said, getting to my feet. Kestrel, surprisingly, said nothing more. I helped Rowan pull the wooden stakes out of the goats small body. The stakes were all different sizes, small, thin, thick, large, they were all there.

_You have to be pretty strong to do this kind of job._ I thought grimly.

"There isn't much blood. She was dead when this happened. Look," She pointed at a spot of crimson on poor Ethyl's neck, "Someone either cut her throat or bit her. She bled out, and it was quick. Unlike…" She trailed off, looking back at Jade, who sniffled and held onto Graham.

"What?" I urged.

"Not like Uncle Hodge." She finished, pulling out another stake, adding it to the quickly growing pile, "They killed Uncle Hodge this way, except he was alive the whole time."

A wave of disgust washed over me, "_Why_?"

She added another few stakes to the pile, "For informing a human being about the Night World." I swayed back onto my heels and sat there, looking at Graham nervously. He sat down on the floor with Jade and rubbed her back in comforting circles, returning my look. "That's why Aunt Opal felt she had to leave, you know. And now someone killed a goat the same way."

"But we still don't know who," I huffed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Someone who knows about vampires, we know that much," Rowan said.

"It _could _be vampire hunters," Kestrel said.

"Well, who around here could qualify as a vampire hunter?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"That's the problem right there, we don't know how you could tell them apart from humans. I'm not even sure they're _real_." Rowan answered for her.

"They're supposed to be humans who have found out about the Night World," Jade said, speaking for the first time since we found the goat, "Either they can't get others to believe them, or they don't want them to know, so they hunt us one by one, trying to kill us off for good. Apparently, they know as much about the Night World as actual Night People."

"So, then they'd know how your uncle was executed," I said.

"Yes, but that isn't really a big secret," Rowan replied, "Well, they would know about the execution, not Uncle Hodge exactly, it's the traditional execution style for lamia."

"Why did your aunt have goats? I always assumed it was for milk, but…" I let the sentence hang in the air, sure they'd get the message.

"It was most likely for the blood," Rowan replied, her voice utterly calm, "If she looked as old as you said, then she probably couldn't move around much."

I studied Ethyl, trying to find anything out of the ordinary, _anything _to give us more clues. My eyes stopped at her muzzle and I leaned forward for a better look. "I…I think there's something in her mouth," I stammered.

"You're kidding, right?" Graham said. I shot him a look and rolled my eyes.

"Go get me a knife or something, Graham cracker, I need to open her mouth more," I ordered him. He wordlessly stood up and made his way to the kitchen. We heard rummaging in the drawers and then he came back with a silver knife in hand. He handed it to me and knelt next to me, hand placed gently on my back. I pried Ethyl's mouth open as far as I could get it and reached inside, there _was _something in there, I could feel it. I carefully worked it out with my fingers, trying not to damage it. It fell out into my palm, and I turned it over. "It's…an iris, but someone spray painted it black."

Rowan and Jade looked at each other, grim looks set on their faces, "This _definitely _has something to do with the Night World. Black flowers are the symbols of the Night World."

My eyes went wide, "Symbols? For what?"

"It's to identify ourselves to one another. We wear them on rings or pins, or even clothing. Each species has a specific flower, Witches have black dahlias, Werewolves have black foxglove, made vampires have black roses-"

Kestrel cut Rowan off with her own piece of information, "and there's a chain of clubs called the Black Iris. Ash belongs to one."

"_Ash_…" Jade gasped, her intense green eyes going wide enough for them to fall out of their sockets. I sat frozen in one spot, remembering a piece of information that could be vital.

"Guys…" I said, grabbing everyone's attention, "I know…two people who wear jewelry with black flowers on them."

"Who?" Everyone asked in unison.

I paused, trying to focus on talking while still getting oxygen into my system, "Jeremy Lovett and…" I looked at Graham, a wave of pain hitting me like a freight train, "Dante." Graham's jaw dropped and it took him a while to recover.

"No way," He whispered shaking his head in disbelief.

"Can you tell for sure?" I asked, "If someone's a Night Worlder?" I asked Rowan, almost panicking now.

"Not always…not if they're experienced at shielding their minds." She replied, "We _might _be able to tell if we startle something out of them, but that's a big _if_." She looked at me with pity in her eyes, "No matter what we should go talk to them, both. Sometimes humans get a hold of our rings or something, and then it gets _really _confusing." But I wasn't so sure about that. The way Jeremy always kept to himself, and how he lived alone down by where they had found a body last summer. And Dante, the way he was always gone, saying he had practice for sports and games, but I could never come and watch him play? Was he cheating? Or was it something more? Something bigger, and more gruesome than that?

"Okay, okay, we'll check out these guys. Jeremy and Dante, you said? But what are we gonna do about Ash?" Kestrel asked.

"What about Ash?" Rowan asked, pulling out the final stake. She pulled the rug gently over the goat, like a blanket for a sleeping child.

"Well, his club flower was just found in a dead goats mouth. A goat killed the same way our uncle was killed. Maybe someone from his club had something to do with it."

"Okay, who's Ash?" Graham asked raising a thin eyebrow. I looked away as Jade, Kestrel, and Rowan all looked at him. I figured that after missing opportunities so many times, it would sound pretty weird for me to just casually mention the _Oh, Ash Redfern. Yes I remember him quite well, he was in our home just this morning, and I kicked him like a child. _I had to tell, just not now.

"He's our brother," Kestrel informed him.

"He's thoroughly insane," Jade added.

"And, he is the only person who may know that we are here." Rowan said, "He saw me giving a letter to Crane Linden to smuggle off the island. I'm not sure if he noticed Aunt Opal's address, though. He isn't that talented when it comes to noticing things that aren't about him."

"He's completely self-involved. It's disgusting," Jade said.

"All he does is party and chase skirts," Kestrel smirked as she said it, "Well…and hunt."

"He hates humans, too. If human girls didn't amuse him so much, he'd probably be plotting to wipe out all human beings."

"Ah, just the type of guy you'd like to bring home to the parents, eh?" Graham nudged me with his shoulder. I couldn't help but smile.

"He is…kind of…conservative," Rowan said, "Politically. Personally he's just-"

"Loose?" Kestrel suggested with raised brows.

"That's a major understatement," Jade told her, "When he chases human girls, he's only looking for one thing…besides their cars of course." I couldn't help but wonder if she meant sex or blood. Maybe both? Every second was like a year to me, getting harder and harder to speak up, and when I built up the nerve, someone else started talking.

"So…you're telling me _he _did all this stuff? To his own _aunt_? And her goat?" Graham asked.

"It's not something I would put past him, exactly." Kestrel said thoughtfully, Jade nodded dramatically. Graham raised his eyebrow at her. "He would if it was concerning the family honor, trust me."

Rowan sighed, sounding a little agitated, "Yes, well we have _one _problem with your theory. She said a little tightly, "Ash isn't _here. _It just so happens, he's in California."

"No he's not." Ash said casually, examining his nails in the back of the living room.

I jumped and spun around, startled by this new appearance. Jade, Kestrel, and Rowan all jumped in front of us, hissing like real cats mixed with a kind of snake-ish sounding hiss, hunched over threateningly, with their fangs out and their fingers bent into claws, nails about two inches longer than they had been a minute ago. Jade's eyes looked even more liquid silver than before, Kestrel's had gone jewel-yellow, like a cat's, and Rowan's had gone darker. Graham blew out a low whistle.

"Hi," Ash said, still as casual as ever._ Don't look at him, whatever you do just don't look at him_. I thought. But of course I had to go against my own advice and stupidly let my eyes rise to his face. His ash blonde hair hung loosely around his face, his bangs hanging in his ever-changing eyes. The left side of his mouth was quirked up in a smirk, and he still wore the black iris shirt with his distressed jeans and adidas sneakers. He could've been dressed in a friggin' gorilla suit for all I cared, the pull was still the same. Only now I had a name for it. _Soulmates. _Oh god no, I'd take anything but this. I don't _want _this. I'd rather be stuck with that cheating douche Dante than this! _Please, __**please**__, get rid of this feeling! _ I felt anger bubble up inside me. Whatever he'd done to make his own _sisters_ scared of him, it wasn't working on me, and I was getting sick of it.

"Oh, so I suppose you don't have to _knock_?" I strode over to him, shaking of the three sisters when they tried to pull me back.

"Oh, it's…you," He said, absolutely unenthusiastic.

"Surprise, asshole. What're doing here?" I spat.

"It's my uncle's house," He replied warily.

"It's your aunt's house, and no one invited you," I stated, crossing my arms. I watched as he looked back over my shoulder at his sisters, I could practically _see_ his mind working. How much had they told us about the Night World? Etcetera, Etcetera.

He held a finger up, backing away one step, "Okay. Now, Listen for-" And I kicked him. I couldn't help myself, I _had _to.

"Oh, for _god's_ sake, are you _crazy_?" He exclaimed, hopping back another step.

"Certifiably Insane," I replied, giving him a grin as I cocked my head to the side, "What's your point?"

"Will someone just tell her not to do that anymore?" He scowled. I just snickered. The three girls had gone back to normal, looking at me as if I'd started barking and chasing my invisible tail. Oh yeah, I have one of those. (be jealous) Rowan looked, slightly worried and apologetic, and most of all, confused.

"You've met," She stated.

"I should've told you, I'm sorry," I said kicking the ground lightly with my boot. "He came to my house, asking my house keeper about you and your friends, saying he needed to approve because he was head of the family." I saw their eyes narrow as they looked to Ash.

"So…you _have _been around." Kestrel said, "How long has _that _been?"

"What are you really doing here?" Rowan asked quietly.

"Okay, okay," Ash said letting go of his shin, "Can we sit down and talk like reasonable people?" He shot me a menacing look. Everyone else looked at me too.

I drew back my foot teasingly, "One more?" I asked with a grin.

"No!" He growled. I sighed and let my foot fall back to earth.

"Fine. I guess so," I said, plopping down on the couch next to Graham.

"Okay, can we first introduce ourselves? I presume that's the brother you told me about?" Ash asked. I nodded.

"Graham, this is Ash. Blondie, this is Graham, my brother," I said. Ash cast his eyes skyward and shook his head. I saw Jade grin at me and I smirked back.

"Alright, I'm here to take you home. Everyone there misses you violently," Ash said to his sisters.

Jade scoffed, "As if."

"What if we don't wanna be taken?" Kestrel grinned briefly. Ash looked annoyed and ready to get the job over with.

"We can't go home, Ash, you know that," Rowan said. Her breathing was a little fast but she held her chin high and proud.

"I also know that if you don't, there will be very drastic consequences," He replied with a slight edge to his voice.

"We'd rather die," Jade glared at him. Kestrel glanced at her shortly, then turned back to Ash.

"Well, I'll be sure to remember that," He said, then turned to us, "Well, we have some….family matters to discuss. Maybe you'd better go." I thought I saw his gaze flicker to me for a second, but brushed it off as nothing. Graham grabbed Jade's hand gently, intertwining their fingers and squeezing.

"I think maybe you'd better…" She trailed off, looking up at him.

"I'm not going anywhere, he's not stupid…he's going to find out sooner or later that we know," Graham told her.

I stifled laughter, "'not stupid'"

Ash glared at me, "I know you know," he said, a little too calmly, "I'm trying to get you out before I find out how _much _you know."

I opened my mouth, but when I realized I had no comment at the ready for that one, I closed it again. Everyone looked at Ash.

"I though you didn't like humans," Graham said slowly.

"I don't'; I hate them," Ash replied cheerfully.

"Then…why are you cutting me a break?"

"Because if I kill you, I'd have to kill your sister," He replied with a grin that could land him in an institution. I froze, afraid of what he would say next.

"So what; she kicked you,"

He narrowed his eyes, "Yeah well, I could change my mind."

"Wait!" Jade was sitting cross-legged with her hands folded in her lap, staring intensely at her brother, "what do you care what happens to a _human_?" Ash stared bitterly into the fire without a word.

Rowan was the one who answered, "Because they're _soulmates_!"

I let out an angry grunt and shot up from my seat. I heard all but one call out after me, but I didn't stop. I burst through the front door and ran for the hill across the street. As soon as I got to the top I plopped down and pulled my knees in, burying my face behind them and letting my angry tears flow out. Everything that had happened today was flowing out of my eyes. Dante cheating, discovering vampires, finding a dead goat, finding out my ex and a somewhat friend were probably Night Worlders, bad ones at that, and worst of all, being soulmates with a guy who hated my guts. I heard footsteps behind me, guy's footsteps from what I could tell. And the only guy that would come after me was –" Go away Graham." I mumbled, trying not to sound like I was crying.

"Being soulmates with me all that bad?" Ash asked from beside me, he sounded like he had plopped down right beside me. I sighed and looked at him, he didn't look smug, like I figured he would. He looked tired, and…hurt?

"Yes! I…no, I just….can't deal with it right now. With everything going on, I'm just so –"

"Exhausted…confused." He finished for me. I laughed bitterly and nodded.

"He doesn't deserve someone like you, y'know that?" He said, reaching out to dry my cheek with his thumb. I jumped a little.

"How did you know?" I asked him, stiffening.

"Soulmate thing. Plus I'm a strong telepath, so that just adds to it you know," He looked at me from the corner of his eye, his head tilting slightly towards me. I nodded.

"So you've been sorting through my thoughts?" I said with a weak smirk. It was kind of unnerving to think of.

"Not for very long," He said quickly, "A minute before you stormed off." He actually looked nervous. I kind of enjoyed it. I leaned over and shoved him with my elbow.

"What a creep," I mumbled, and he laughed, because, of course, he knew that I was joking.

"You could do it too, with practice," He grinned.

"Mm, yeah, but, unlike you…I don't like porno." It took a while, but he got it, and instead of scowling, like I thought he would. He burst out laughing. I found myself laughing along with him. When the laughter died away, we sat in an uncomfortable silence, avoiding making eye contact. Ash cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head, squinting off into the distance. I fidgeted, constantly switching my position, trying to find a way out of this awkward silence.

"We should get back there…we still have things we need to sort out," Ash said finally, breaking the silence and standing up. I cleared my throat and nodded, getting to my feet and making my way down the side of the hill. I always kept a few paces ahead of him, trying to get as far away from that magnetic pull as possible. The seconds felt like hours as we trudged down towards the house. It was like one of those dreams where you're running down a hallway to a door and the door always stays just out of reach no matter how fast you run. I picked up the pace, hoping this wasn't _actually _like one of those dreams. Luckily, my foot hit the porch step, and I sighed with relief before heading inside. Without looking at anyone else, I made my way to the couch and sat back down in my spot, no words spoken.

Ash strode in a few seconds after I sat, "So…where is the old hag anyway?"

Everyone looked at him, shock written all over their faces. "You don't know, Ash?" Rowan asked, her voice soft.

"Of _course _he knows! Ten to one he _did _it!" Kestrel exclaimed in exasperation.

"Ok…what is this I supposedly did?" Ash asked rolling his eyes, obviously annoyed.

**Ok hey guys…sorry I took a little longer than I thought I would on this chap. I tried to finish it before I went to my dad's but it didn't work out like that, so sorry. I appreciate you guys reading it though. And dealing with the waits for each chapter. But here it is finally, chapter eight. Hope you enjoyed it. **

**Mackie**


	9. Like a Detective

**So you guys probably hate me by now XD. I think the wait of like what, a year..? would make you all the happier that I updated. One hell of a cliffy, I guess (major sarcasm). So I offer my deepest apologies for the longest wait in history, and I hope with all my brains that you'll all forgive me and not flame like crazy. Since my account is so active lately I decided not to take this down to tweak it, just try my hardest to make it better all the way to the end. And I have started planning for the two sequels, although I'm not sure if they'll ever make it up. They might, as an extra apology for making you guys wait like a year and a half for this half of the story. So we continue Annabel's journey now, and you guys try not to throw flaming, used toilet paper my way. Deal? Deal. Oh, and I have a few things on polyvore for this story, links are at the bottom, just because I'm obsessed with the site now and felt that there should be something extra for the story, and it might help with visualizing, but I'm not sure. Also an apology gift if you didn't catch on ****◕‿◕****. Enjooooy~ -hides behind Aunt Opal's house from any flying projectiles- **

**I don't own anything, you guys, stop depressing me xD. **

Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats, sharing nervous glances. Ash looked completely ready to flip tits, and while I found this slightly amusing, I didn't feel like smiling.

Finally, Graham cleared his throat and rested his elbows on his knees, "You're aunts…well she's dead."

"Someone staked her…" Jade added somberly, and Graham rubbed comforting circles on her back.

Ash looked around at everyone in turn; taking in everyone's saddened expressions. Looking vulnerable. More human than I'd ever seen him. I almost felt bad for the guy. "Somebody…murdered…Aunt Opal. That's what you're telling me?"

Kestrel scoffed, "You're telling _us _you didn't know?" She asked incredulously, "What have you been _doing _all night, Ash?"

"Banging my head against a rock," He muttered, "Then looking for you. I came in and you were talking about me."

"Did you run into any livestock along the way? Any-let's say-goats?"

Ash gave her a look, half disgusted half incredulous, "I fed, if that's what you're suggesting. Not on a goat. What _exactly _are you getting at? I don't see how this has anything to do with Aunt Opal."

Rowan sighed and looked around at the rest of us, "I think we'd better show him." With that, she got up and walked around the couch and folded the rug back to show the goat. Ash followed to see what was happening, and winced-if only slightly-when he saw it. "That's not all. Look at what's in its mouth."

Ash was gentle with the flower as he picked it up to examine it, his ever-changing eyes squinting as he brought it up, "An iris. So?"

"Been to your club recently?" Kestrel grinned menacingly, resting her crossed arms on the back of the couch.

Ash looked to her wearily, furrowing his brows, "If I had done it, why would I sign it with an iris?"

"Maybe to tell us who did it." She challenged.

"I don't have to kill goats to make a statement, you know. I _do _possess the ability to speak."

"Maybe this way it made a little more impact than just words."

"Do I _look _like the kind of person who wastes time turning goats into pincushions? If so, I wish you would have told me so sooner so I could work on that."

"No, no, I don't think you did this," Rowan said quietly, like she always did, "But _someone_ did-most likely the same one who killed Aunt Opal. We're trying to figure out who did it."

Ash looked interested, "Who're your suspects?"

Graham cleared his throat and wiped his hands on his jeans, "We have two that are pretty much at the top of the list." He looked to me, asking wordlessly if it was okay to go on.

I hugged my knees to my chest and nodded once, looking to Ash, "Dante St. Cloud, my ex. Tall blonde hunk of meat. And then there's Jeremy Lovett. He's real quiet, works down at the station. I've known him since grade school; he's always been somewhat of a loner. He doesn't seem like on to harm and old lady and a goat.

"But his uncle was a total loony bin. One foot in the nut house." Graham added.

I tightened my grip on my legs, resting my chin on my knee-caps and looking down at the floor. "He seemed so nice…" I murmured, almost to myself. It was like my mother had always told me; look out for the nice guys because they always have something to hide.

Ash was watching me intently, I could feel it, and it didn't seem like he was very happy. "What does this Jeremy guy look like?"

That irked me. I didn't know why exactly, maybe because when he said it it had sounded a bit…territorial. "Why does it matter to you?" I just barely stopped myself from snarling it. My eyes met his, narrowed and looking ready for a fight, I was sure.

He blinked, almost surprised and after a while he shifted his gaze. He lifted one shoulder and dropped it almost as quickly, saying with forced nonchalance, "Just a bit curious."

I almost scoffed, then I decided to lay the bait, "Oh he's insanely hot, actually," I smirked at him, "One of the few good-looking guys that are actually _intelligent_," He seemed to bristle. Offended. Good. "His hair is pretty dark, but it's brown. He's taller than me, 'cause I usually find myself looking at his chin."

The blonde was _not _taking this well, but he seemed to be hiding most of his distaste, "I saw someone…vaguely like that in town. At the gas station, like you said." He turned to his older sister, "You think he's some kind of outlaw vampire, then?"

"Definitely not made, because Annabel watched him grow up." Rowan bit her lip thoughtfully, "Maybe a renegade lamia? There really isn't much use trying to figure it out from here, though. Tomorrow we'll find him, then we can figure it out for sure."

Everyone nodded. Ash sighed and stabbed his fingers through his longish hair, "I see, then, why you can't come home till we figure this out. Alright, we'll find out who did this to Aunt Opal, take appropriate action, _then _we'll go home. Understood?"

His sisters exchanged weary glances and didn't answer.

…

As Graham snoozed in the front seat on the way home, I realized that with vampire vision I could see perfectly fine without the headlights, which seemed pretty rad to me. I bit my lip and drove slowly, thoughts of soulmates, cheating boyfriends, and Nightworlders crawling through my mind, the music playing low in the background. I cracked the window and breathed in the fresh, cold air of the night. The moon was high, and I could see some of the blemishes and craters in her surface now. I marveled at it for a few seconds, wondering what it was like to see like this all the time.

**Don't you worry your pretty little heads, darlins, the next chapter will be up within a few days. Yes I'm now working on two at a time, but big woop, I can handle it. As promised I shall give you the links to the pretties I made on polyvore because I was bored. Please accept this apology gift.**

** annabell_riley/set?id=61720699#stream_box**

**(Annabel)**

** graham_riley/set?id=61722020#stream_box**

**(Graham cracker) **

** kestrel_redfern/set?id=61724281#stream_box**

**(Kestrel)**

** jade_redfern/set?id=61725075#stream_box**

**(Jade)**

** rowan_redfern/set?id=61725631#stream_box**

**(Rowan)**

** ash_redfern/set?id=61766997#stream_box**

**(Ash)**

** dante/set?id=61770283#stream_box**

**(Dante)**

** jeremy_lovett/set?id=61774179**

**(Jeremy)**

**If you want more pictures just holler ;D. If not, good for you :3. Thanks so much for reading you guys, I'll never do it again~! I suck I know, but you guys are amazing and I love you and wanna give you cookies. Here :3 –holds out plate of cookies-**


	10. The investigation (Part 1)

**I'm baack~! Here's number ten people ;D bet you're just **_**so **_**excited. This one will start out as third person, because that's the only way I can do chapter 13 without Annabel **_**being **_**there. So yeah, just a heads up so I don't get yelled at X3. Also found out the links don't work. So if you happen to want to see the pictures for this story, others, and just random things I made, my Polyvore account is Mackieescapedazkaban. I need more views anyway ;D.**

**And of course, I don't own this the basic plot or the characters, except for the obvious. Enjoy!**

Jade sat in the wing chair, Tiggy in her lap lying on his back while she stroked his stomach. He was purring even though he was mad. She stared into his indignant, glowing green eyes steadily.

Kestrel arrived in the doorway, leaning against the frame, "The other _goat,_" She announced unpleasantly, as if she was unhappy saying the word in polite society, "is just fine. You can let the cat out."

Jade wasn't about to do that. If somewhere was running around Briar Creek, slaughtering animals left and right, she intended to keep him where she could keep a close eye on him.

Kestrel turned her fiery gaze on Rowan, "Don't tell me _we're _going to have to feed on that thing."

"Of course not," Rowan mumbled, looking preoccupied even as she spoke, "Aunt Opal only did that because she was too old to hunt."

"I like hunting," Jade piped up cheerily, "It's even better than I thought it would be." Rowan was too busy biting her lip and staring off into the distance, "Rowan, _what_?"

"I was thinking over our situation. You and Graham, for one. It would probably be a good idea to talk about that."

Jade was alarmed, almost reflexively. Wonderful, Rowan was in one of her organizing moods. You could just blink and find she'd rearranged your whole room. Or that you were moving to Oregon. "Talk about what?" There was a wary undertone to her voice.

"About what we're going to _do, _of course. Will he stay human?"

Kestrel butted in, "It's illegal to change him."

Rowan gave her a level look, "_Everything _we've done this week is illegal. It'll only take a few more blood exchanges." She turned to Jade, "Do you _want _to make him a vampire?"

Honestly, Jade hadn't thought about it all that much. She like Graham the way he was, and she didn't exactly _want _to change him. That was, unless he wanted to change, himself. She looked to Ash, who was coming down the stairs slowly, as if he was trying not to fall on his face, "What're you going to do with yours?"

"My what?" He sighed, looking extremely sleepy and somewhat irritable.

"Your soulmate, what else?" She rolled her eyes, "Is Annabel going to stay human?"

"That's the other thing I've been worrying about," Rowan sighed, "Have you thought at _all, _Ash?"

"I can't think at this hour in the morning. I don't have a brain yet."

"It's almost noon." Kestrel shook her head in disbelief.

"I don't care when it is, I'm still asleep." He slid his feet on the way to the kitchen, "And there's no need to worry," He added over his shoulder, suddenly sounding wide awake, "Because I'm not doing _anything _with the girl, and Jade isn't doing anything with the brother. We are going _home_, and that's it." He disappeared.

Jade was wide-eyed, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She saw straight through his frivolous act. Underneath he was ruthless. A true vampire. She looked to Rowan, "Annabel's really his soulmate?"

"I'm afraid so," Rowan answered a bit sadly. She leaned back and closed her eyes, looking faintly exhausted.

"But then…how could he want to leave?"

The older sister hesitated, opening her eyes to study Jade before answering, "Not all soulmates stay together. Sometimes it's too much for one or both to bear-the fire and lightning. Sometimes they just can't stand it…so they leave."

_Maybe Graham and I aren't soulmates after all. _Jade thought to herself. _Maybe that's _good _though. It sounds kind of painful._ "Poor Annabel." She said sadly.

…

_Why doesn't anyone ever say "Poor Ash"?_

"Poor Annabel." She said again, deliberately ignoring the thought.

Ash reappeared from the kitchen. "Look," He said as he sat in one of the carved chairs. "We need to get some things straight. It's not just the matter of _me _wanting you to come home. I, in fact, am not the only one aware that you are here."

At that, Jade stiffened.

Kestrel looked to him, saying in a sickly sweet voice, "You _told _somebody?"

"When the family figured out you were missing and informed me, I was staying with someone. He was there when I realized where you had gone. There's also the fact that he is an extremely strong telepath, so consider yourselves lucky that I convinced him to let _me _try to get you three back."

Jade was staring holes through him. She did, in fact, consider herself lucky. On top of that, she found it particularly odd that Ash would go through that much trouble for…well, anyone _but _Ash. The thought startled her, but maybe she didn't know her brother as well as she had initially thought.

Rowan was very nearly emotionless when she asked, "Who was it?"

"Oh nobody," The statement came out as a sigh, Ash leaned back and looked to the ceiling moodily, " Just Quinn."

Jade flinched as if she'd been slapped. Quinn…that _snake_. He positively despised humans, and she was pretty sure he hadn't the capacity to think of anyone but himself. He was quite frankly heartless. He would most definitely take the Night World law into his own hands if he had even the slightest inkling that it wasn't being enforced properly.

"He's coming back Monday. To see if I've…taken care of the situation." Ash added, "If I haven't, we're all dead-you, me, _and _your little human buddies."

Rowan thought for a bit, "So…Monday is our deadline to figure something out."

Kestrel cracked her knuckles, "If he tries anything on _us _he's in for a fight."

Jade squeezed Tiggy to make him growl.

…

I had been exhausted by the time we got back, and I'm pretty sure I slept till noon. What can I say; all of _summer_ is my lazy day. It hadn't been a completely pleasant sleep, though. I had been plagued with vivid dreams the whole night and most of the morning. I had been every predator imaginable. An owl, swooping down and snatching up a plump mouse. A graceful lioness, bounding after a gazelle. It had been a wonderful feeling. There was no guilt in this killing. It was natural, like breathing. Just part of nature. Each new kill had left me exhilarated, wanting more instantly. This was what I had been born to do, and I would do it to the best of my ability. But then the dream turned bad, and I was being chased. I wasn't the strong, fearless predator anymore. Just a normal girl, with no claws, no power, no enhanced senses. No matter where I ran…_it _was after me. Sharp, white teeth, larger than any human's, glinted in the moonlight and…I woke up.

Even as I showered, changed into a black tank and skinny jeans, pulling a teal hoodie over my shoulders, and descended the staires into the kitchen, the sickening feeling of being chased was still at the back of my mind. I grabbed a blueberry muffin out of the box on the table that must have been left by mom and dad. I shuffled into the family room, plopping down next to my brother on the couch.

"Hey, sleepy head." He greeted me with a smirk, "Is that breakfast or lunch."

"Can I say both to save myself the trouble of trying to figure it out?" I tore off a piece, ignoring the crumbs that fell into my lap, and popped it into my mouth.

He chuckled and shook his head, looking out the window at something that I couldn't see, lost in his thoughts. After a while he asked, without looking at me, "Have you been thinking about it too, Bell?"

I bit off a large piece of muffin, blueberry juice filling my mouth, "About what, Graham Cracker?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't dance around it."

I did know. I didn't want to admit I knew, that I _had _been thinking about it. A lot. I looked past the threshold to the family room to make sure Remy wasn't anywhere in earshot, then I turned back to him, a stern look in place, "_Don't _even."

"Why not? Give me one good reason we _shouldn't _be thinking about this, Bell." When she didn't answer he gave her an _I told you so_ look, "You can't tell me honestly that you haven't been wondering. We would see better, hear better, be _telepathic _for Christ's sake…we would live on _forever, _Bell. We could see the year three-thousand. Four thousand, even. Don't tell me you haven't been even a _little _bit curious."

I stared down at my muffin, half eaten, "I am. You know me better than anyone, Graham. You _know _I'm curious. But we'd _kill _things." I fiddled with crumbs as if I'd lost my appetite. But I hadn't. I _should _have been sick to my stomach, thinking of taking a life. Of draining the life force from a warm, breathing body. I was scared, more than anything. I was scared of the Night World, of the secrets it held. I was scared of myself, for maybe even wanting to discover them.

"_We _could die, Graham. Us. Bad things can happen in the Night World. Not juvenile things, like flunking tests or skipping class…bad like .."

_A sleek, muscled killing machine. White teeth ready to tear limb from limb._

"Like getting killed _dead. _This is serious. This isn't a game where you have multiple lives that you accumulate on each level. There's no going back once you're in."

"We already _are _in, Bell. We knew the risks, and we exchanged blood with three vampire girls." Graham said matter-of-factly.

I knew that, at least now, I wouldn't deter him. So instead I stood up abruptly and sighed, "If we're gonna go, we should head over there now. It's almost one."

…

Ash and the three sisters were waiting for us when we got there. I made it a point not to look at Ash the whole time I spoke. "You two can sit in front with me, then." I said, looking at Jade and my brother in turn. When they moved to get in, I asked, "You're brining the _cat?"_

Jade looked at me steadily, "The cat goes, or I don't."

I raised my hands in surrender, "Hey, I was just askin'."

I put the truck in gear and we were off.

We were rolling up to the small cluster of buildings on Main Street when Graham spoke up, "And here we have the _very _dull downtown Briar Creek. A typical Friday afternoon with absolutely _no one _on the streets." I snickered at his tour guide impression, rolling my eyes.

"Well there's someone, "Jade piped up happily, "It's that one boy, Vic. Todd's there, too. And some grown-ups." I slowed as we passed the Sheriff's office, but I didn't come to a complete stop until we were at the gas station, where I hopped out and let my eyes wander across the street, as casually as I could manage. Sure enough, there was Todd Akers, with his father, the sheriff-and Vic Kimble with his father. Mr. Kimble owned a farm just east of town. They all seemed pretty damn excited as they piled into the sheriff's car. I seethed. Bunny Marten was standing on the sidewalk watching idly as they left.

Well, _fuck _me. It just _had _to be her, didn't it? I was ready to sprint over to her and take her down. I clenched my teeth and let out a hiss of air, clenching and unclenching my fists until I had calmed enough. "Hey, Bunny!" I called, hoping my hatred didn't show through my words. I'd have time enough for that later, when I wasn't trying to solve a murder case like Nancy frikkin' Drew. "What's going on?"

Bunny looked over her shoulder at me, looking slightly surprised. When we locked eyes I thought I detected a bit of…smugness in them. "Oh…_hi, _Bell." She drawled, making her way unhurriedly across the street. Oh the perfect time for a bus to come speeding by. I prayed for it the whole time she walked. "They're just going to check out that horse thing."

I raised an eyebrow, resisting the urge to slug her in the nose, "What horse thing?"

"Oh…didn't you hear?" Her eyes looked passed me, to where everyone was climbing out of the truck. Suddenly, her eyes got even rounder, and she reached up to fix her blonde hair. _Oh _hell _no! _I thought before I could stop myself, then I wanted to smack myself in the face for it.

"Hi," Ash said. I clenched my teeth.

"We didn't hear about the horse thing," I muttered.

"Oh, well…one of Mr. Kimble's horses cut its throat on barbed wire last night. At least that's what everyone was saying this morning. Mr. Kimble came into town because he didn't think it was barbed wire at all." She looked around and dropped her voice, as if it was some big secret that she shouldn't tell, "He thinks someone did it on purpose." _Well…no shit. If it wasn't barbed wire I suppose someone just thought the horse was getting a little scruffy. _I almost rolled my eyes. She hunched her shoulders and shivered theatrically, her eyes finding Ash again. This time I did roll my eyes.

"You see? That's why I'm not letting Tiggy out of my sight." Jade concluded.

I noticed the way Bunny eyed Jade, and I cleared my throat, "Thanks, Bun."

"I've got to get back to the store." She said, not making any move to go, but instead switching her gaze to Kestrel and Rowan.

I was thinking up several ways I could get her to leave when Ash piped up, "I'll walk you there," He said in a manner that could make anyone believe that chivalry was actually coming back from the dead. "After all, we have no clue as to what could be lurking around here." I bristled, but brushed it off quickly.

"It's broad daylight," Kestrel scoffed, disgusted. I knew the feeling. Ash was already walking Bunny away. I tried to convince myself that I was glad to be rid of _both _of them.

"Who was that girl?" Rowan asked, sounding curious. Something in her expression was odd and unreadable.

"That was Bunny Marten. She goes to school with me, what's the big deal?" I asked, "Is something the matter?"

"She was staring at us."

I chuckled a bit darkly, "She was staring at Ash. And maybe you three as well. You're new, you're pretty, and you're mysterious. She's probably wondering what guys you'll steal from her."

"I see." Rowan sounded unconvinced.

"Rowan, c'mon, what's wrong?" I prodded gently.

"It's nothing…I'm sure of it. She just has a lamia name…"

"Bunny…?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," Rowan said, seeming to assume the position of a school teacher, "the lamia are usually named after natural things. Animals and trees and gems and flowers. So, yes, Bunny is technically a lamia name-and isn't marten a kind of weasel?"

I seemed to remember something about Bunny, but it was gone before I could realize what it was, and I was too angry with her to want to pursue the thought. I crossed my arms and asked, "Can you sense something suspicious about her? I really can't _see _her as a vampire. I mean…this is _Bunny _we're talking about. She hardly does _anything_." _Besides playing tonsil tennis with other girls' boyfriends. _

Rowan smiled lightly at me, "No, I don't sense anything off about her. And you're probably right; humans can have our names, too. Sometimes it's just confusing."

I just wanted to get off the subject of Bunny Marten. "I don't really see why you would name yourselves after a tree if wood is your weakness."

"That's exactly it, though. Tree names are supposed to be the most powerful names we have, because it's the one thing that can take us out." And as if on cue, Ash came out of the general store. I quickly turned and searched for Jeremy. Dante would probably be gone by now, doing who knows what. It scared me how little I actually knew about my recent ex. I realized I heard something. Hammering.

I beckoned to the rest of them, "Come on, let's look around back." I was already walking away, trying to put as much distance as I could between Ash and me. Kestrel and Rowan followed. And sure enough, Jeremy was around back, hammering a long board across a broken window. He struggled to keep the board steady, and hair was falling in his eyes, sweat dripping down his temples.

"Oh jeez, what happened here?" I asked with wide eyes. I hurried over to help with the board, holding it steady for him.

His brown eyes found mine and he grimaced with relief, letting go of the board with a sigh. "Hey Annabel. Thanks a lot. Hang on a sec." He pulled a few nails out of his pocket and gave a few sure blows with the hammer. "I'm not sure what happened. Somebody broke it last night, made a real mess of it."

"Last night was pretty busy, huh?" Kestrel said dryly.

Jeremy was startled by the voice, and looked back. His hands went absolutely still, poised with the hammer over the nail. He looked at Kestrel and Rowan a long time. Stiff and tense. After a while, he turned back to me, asking very slowly, "You need more gas already?"

"Oh…um no." I could've siphoned some out. Apparently I don't think well under pressure. "There's been a lot of knocking around under the hood. You didn't look at it last time, so I figured I'd just bring it back."

**Okay, here's the sitch. I'm going to stop right here. I know it's random, and I know it's probably a tad disappointing, but the thing is, we just had an accidental death in my school which triggered two suicides already. It all happened within a span of two months, and I'm just about done. So I'm taking off for a few days. I send you my deepest apologies through the computer and I figured I should give you something, but I'm not in the mood to write at the moment, and this is how far I had gotten before I found out about this newest death. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I will try my hardest to get a new one up soon, but it might be a little late. Thanks so much for sticking with the story even when I didn't have a good reason to be away for so long, I love all of you readers out there. Much love, stay golden!**


	11. The investigation (Part 2)

**Okay enough moping for now. I've kept you people waiting long enough. I was gonna start this on the weekend but I figured I might as well get it done as soon as I can so here we are with part two. I'll cut this A/N short and get right on with it.**

I watched Jeremy's eyes search my face carefully. "Sure, Bell," He said then, gently, "I'll get right on it as soon as I'm finished."

I smiled and nodded. He can't possibly be a Nightworlder. He's only ever been nice to me and here I am lying to him and suspecting him of _murder_. Some friend. I jumped as a feral his sounded behind me, and I almost suspected Kestrel, but when I turned Jade was running after Tiggy.

"_Tiggy!" _Jade screeched, about as agile as the cat she was chasing after. Ash rounded the corner just as Jade did, and they bounced right off of each other, sending the brother into the wall.

"Well that was fun," Kestrel said, but I was only half listening. Jeremy's gaze had switched from the scene to Ash, and the look he gave him was absolutely chilling. Ash stared back with eyes as green as the rainforest after a good shower. The gaze was tense with something that felt a lot like instantaneous hatred for each other. Almost like it was instinctive. I felt a bit of worry over Jeremy, but he seemed completely sure of himself, muscles tensed as if he was ready to defend himself.

Abruptly and deliberately he turned his back on Ash, as if he wasn't worth his time. He readjusted the board and as he did I finally remembered what we were here for and looked at his hand. The ring on his finger wasn't a dahlia, nor was it a rose or an iris. There was only one thing it could possibly be, and it made my stomach clench to even consider it.

Foxglove.

Fuck…everything.

I was trembling all over, and I needed to leave, even though I was still holding the board.

The words that came out of my mouth in a lame excuse were more gasped than actually spoken, "I'm sorry, I really am-I need to run and get something-" Everyone was staring and I really couldn't give two shits. I let the board go and almost sprinted away from there. I kept running and running and running until I made it to the back. I leaned against the wall almost hyperventilating from shock and lack of air. I stared down at the ground.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. How did I not guess sooner? What's wrong with me? _

"Annabel?" A soft voice called, and I turned to Rowan, not really wanting to face anyone after the scene I made.

"I'm fine. Really I only need a few minutes and I'll be good to go. I'm just a bit shocked." I told her quietly, my voice shaking.

"Annabel…"

"It's just really weird to think about, y'know? I never would have guessed that out of all things…"

"Annabel, what exactly are you talking about?" She stopped me, looking lost.

"_Jeremy_, who else?" I replied, "He _actually _did it, didn't he?"

"Well, what makes you say that?"

"Well he's a _werewolf _isn't he?" I asked in a near-whisper.

Rowan looked curious, "How did you know that?"

"His ring…it was foxglove." I said, "How did _you _know?"

"I sensed it," she shrugged, "Vampire powers are weak in sunlight, but he really isn't trying to hide anything, either."

"Of course he isn't. I should've guessed. He lives at _mad dog creek_ for Christ's sake. He's so interested in the lunar eclipse; he's told me about it millions of times. _And _people are saying they've seen a big hairy Sasquatch…_thing _out there." When I looked to Rowan her expression was grave, all except the twitching lips. I glared.

"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing." She said seriously.

"I just thought he was a nice guy…"

"I still think he is," Rowan reasoned, "and it also means he didn't do it."

"Because he's a nice guy?"  
>"Because he's a werewolf."<p>

"Pardon?"

Rowan got that teacher-like stance again, "Werewolves are very different from vampires. They can't just take a little blood and be good. They have to _eat_. Sometimes they eat all of it, but they absolutely _have _to feed on internal organs."

"So that means he didn't kill Mrs. B or the goat."

"Exactly. Look, most werewolves don't actually hunt for sport, that's just Hollywood playing it up. Most are really gentle and only hunt to eat."

I let out a short bark of a laugh, "So the guy I thought was nice really only has to eat te=he odd liver occasionally. Great."

"You can't blame him, Annabel. Look at it like this: Werewolves aren't just people who sometimes turn into wolves. They are wolves that sometimes look like people."

"And they still kill."

"Only animals. The law is _very _strict on that subject." She replied, "Humans would catch on in no time, otherwise. Vampires can somewhat disguise their work, but werewolf kills are unmistakable."

"Okay then, great." I should've felt at peace, but I couldn't bring myself to settle down when I lived so near to a predator.

"But before we go back we may have a problem." Rowan said, "If he realizes it was the ring that set you off then he'll know we told you about the Nightworld."

"Well, shit." I murmured.

"Which means it is his duty to either turn us in or kill us himself."

"Well, _shit." _

"But then I don't think he will. He likes you, and I don't think he could bring himself to do it."

"But then _he'd _get in trouble."

"Only if someone found out. Let's go. Maybe Ash and Kestrel managed to bluff him."

**The second part it out and now we can all rejoice…or something. ^^ getting back into the swing of things it seems. The next chappy will be out soon, but I have somewhere to go so I thought I'd just give you this. Filled with magic and ponies and kittens and love~! Or not…but you get the picture. Hope you all enjoyed and continue reading.**


	12. So You Say You're Raised by Wolves

**Okay...feel free to throw sticks and stones directly at my face. I deserve it. It feels like it's been years since I even thought about touching this story. My bad. Good news, though: I already started working on the next chapter, so you don't have to worry about time anymore. That one'll probably be up within the next week if not sooner. It would definitely be sooner if summer school wasn't such a bitch. But anyways, let's get on with it.**

**Nothing has changed, I still don't own anything except for the things I do. ;) You know that by now.**

**Chapter 12: So You Say You're Raised by Wolves**

Together, with shoulders just barely brushing, Rowan and I traveled the short distance back around the building to where everyone was still gathered. I truly hoped what Rowan said before was true-about Ash and Kestrel bluffing Jeremy-or we were all _royally _screwed.

As we turned into the building we saw that everyone was crowded around the hood of my truck. Jeremy was still hunched under the hood, checking for anything that might possibly be wrong with my baby. Graham and Jade were back, and I noticed their hands intertwined together loosely, but there was no sign of the kitten who had run for the hills. Kestrel was leaning casually against the gas pump, her rough but pretty exterior making her look as if she belonged here. But Ash-_Ash _was talking to Jeremy, and their conversation made Rowan and I exchange dismayed glances.

"So the werewolf walks into the second doctor's office and he says, 'Doc, I think I have rabies.' And the doctor says-"

"Ash, that isn't funny." Rowan scolded before turning to Jeremy with a sigh and a shake of her head, "I'm sorry...he doesn't mean it, really." I glared at Ash from her side, but he only gave me an innocent shrug of the shoulders and looked away.

"He does, but it doesn't matter. I've heard plenty worse." Jeremy bent over the engine again as he replied, the metal of the hood quieting his words some. He replaced the cap securely before straightening and locking eyes with me.

I...was at a loss for what to say. Okay, so I talk _a lot_, I get it. But what exactly am I supposed to say when I figure out a guy I've known forever is a werewolf. Not to mention that this only further increased the likeliness of _Dante _being a Night person, as well. It was all too much. I felt my eyes sting, but I bit my lip and lowered my gaze to my shoes. When I regained my composure, I looked up and found Jeremy looking to the side and shaking his head. He had a bitter smile on his face, his brows furrowed. "I figured as much. I thought you'd react this way or I'd have told you a lot sooner."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "That so, tough guy?" I asked, "Wouldn't that have gotten you in trouble, then?"

He smiled faintly then; a real smile untainted by bitterness. "We're not really sticklers for Night World law around here." His tone was casual, but Ash and his sisters looked around on impulse.

"'We'?" I encouraged.

"My family." He clarified, "At first they settled here because it was so far out of the way that no one would bother them and vice versa. Of course, now it's only me."

There was no self-pity in his voice, only pure fact. Still, I felt a hand of grief grip my heart in pity for him. "Sorry, Jer." He shook his head with another small smile.

Jade moved in on the other side, eyes wide. "But _that's _the reason we came here, too! We don't like the Night World, either, and we figured we wouldn't be bothered."

There was that smile again-the one that was mostly in his eyes. "I know," he nodded to her, "You're related to Mrs, Burdock, aren't you?"

"Yeah...she was our aunt." Kestrel said, her eyes piercing boldly into him.

Jeremy's smile faltered and he turned to face her head on. "Why the past tense?"

"Yes, she met with a _slight _accident involving a stake," Ash stated, eyeing him. His expression was innocent again, like he didn't know _exactly _what he was saying. It made me want to kick him, only _this _time a little up and to the left. "Funny how that happens sometimes..."

Jeremy leaned against the car, almost as if this information was to much for him to bear on two feet. "Who did it?" He asked as he glanced at Ash. I thought for a moment I could see a flash of teeth, and it brought back the feeling of dread I had gotten after waking up from my dream. "Wait-you think I did it, don't you? That's why you're here."

"It did cross our minds at one point." Ash was being all too casual as he said it, "In fact, it _keeps _crossing them. Back and forth. Maybe we should put in a crosswalk."

"_Ash_, cut it out," I hissed at him, and surprisingly enough...he did.

"So, you're saying you didn't do it?" Graham spoke up as Rowan spoke under him, "Actually, Kestrel thinks it was a vampire hunter."

Her voice was extremely soft, as per usual, but everyone still looked around. The street was still deserted-another usual.

"There's no vampire hunter around here," Jeremy told us flatly.

"Then another vampire," Jade suggested excitedly, perking up like a little puppy. "That _has _to be it, because of the way Aunt Opal was killed...and the goat."

"The goat?" Jeremy asked, looking to me before shaking his head, "You know what? Don't even tell me, I don't think I _wanna _know." He punctuated the statement with the tinny sound of the hood swinging shut. He nodded at me, "Everything's fine down here, but you should get the oil changed sometime." I nodded and told him I would. With a quick smile he turned to Rowan, "I'm sorry about your aunt, but if there's a vampire around here then it's someone who wants to stay hidden. _Extremely _hidden. Same goes for a hunter."

"We already know that much," Kestrel confirmed. At this point I figured it was too much to ask that Ash stay quiet any longer, but nothing came from him. I looked to find him staring broodingly across the street as if he was a scolded child sent to the corner. I smiled a little at his expression, figuring it was kinda, sorta, maybe, a _little _bit cute. Then I shook myself and turned away.

To distract myself from such a disturbing thought, I engaged myself back into the conversation and asked, "You sure you haven't seen anything around town that could possibly point in a helpful direction? We were gonna look around town, but it would still help loads."

He locked eyes with me once again, his stare so intense that I couldn't avert my eyes. I felt myself blushing. "If I knew something, I'd tell you." I found myself hoping that I wasn't imagining the slight emphasis he put on his last word. I felt a small smile creep onto my face. "And if I could help, I would."

I caught Ash eyeing us, looking a bit distasteful. "Well by all means, come along. You can even put your head out the window."

I growled lowly, rolling my eyes. Stomping over to him, I snatched his sleeve in a death grip and hauled him off. Along the way I gave the others a sickly sweet smile and called, "We'll be right back." It really didn't take much to drag him back to the back of the building. "Are you _fucking _kidding me, blondie?" I glared up at him menacingly.

"Oh, look-"

"No, no, no, you shut your asshole mouth." I whacked his arm. Hard. The electric explosions it sent through my body only succeeded in pissing me off more. "I have absolutely had it with your crap, you know that? Why is it every time you open your mouth something comes out of it that makes me feel like punching you in the throat?"

He was rubbing his arm and staring at me wide-eyed, but I didn't care. "Ow."

"Do you always act like such a prejudice dickhead or am I just _lucky _enough to catch you on your bad days?" I spat, realizing that my brother and his sorta-girlfriend were peering around the edge of the gas station. Ash had backed up against the boarded window, hands up in surrender looking shocked and ashamed. _Good_.

"Should you really hit him like that?" Graham murmured, looking as if he was holding back amusement. Rowan and Kestrel were behind him and Jade, and they all looked alarmed.

I crossed my arms, "I'm not dealing with bigots." I grumbled, jabbing Ash with my elbow to make my point clear.

"_We're _not," Jade promised eagerly, "_We _don't believe in that stupid stuff!"

"She's right, we _don't_." Rowan insisted, "And Anabell-our father is constantly yelling at Ash for visiting the wrong kinds of people on the Outside. Belonging to a club that admits wolves, having werewolf _friends_, even. The Elders all say he's _too _liberal about that aspect."

I sighed, "Great way of showing it." My anger was dying down a bit, but I was still annoyed. With everything that had been happening the past few days, I needed some

venting time.

"I just figured I'd mention that," Rowan said, "Now we'll leave you alone." She herded everyone back around the corner and we were alone once again.

I stared after them, and from my side Ash spoke up. "Can I move now, please?" He looked as if his mood had darkened even more. I finally just gave up. I felt as if this would never stop happening, as if my life was just meant to be one huge drama, now, and _nothing _was ever truly going to calm down. The stress of it all came down on me at once. I was tired, and suddenly I just wanted to be a regular teenage girl who was free to bawl over the fact that her boyfriend had cheated on her with friggin' _Bunny Marten,_ of all people!

"If you'd just...go away soon, it'd be easier." I was quiet, unable to raise my voice any louder than just above a whisper. I couldn't handle with three guys screwing with my emotions.

"Anabell..." He said my name on an exhale, and I heard something unidentifiable in his voice that had never been there before. At least not directed at me. "Listen-it's not really even a matter of me _wanting _to go away. There's another Night Person coming on Monday. His name is Quinn, and if my sisters and I don't go back with him, the whole _town _is in trouble. If he thinks there's anything odd going on around here...you have _no _idea what the Night World can do." I didn't turn back to him, my heart already doing flips in my chest. I was afraid of what it might do if I saw how he was looking at me.

"They could wipe Briar Creek out. I mean it. They've _done _things like that before just to preserve a their secret. It's the only protection they have from your kind."

I sniffed, eyeing the sky and shaking my head with a small humorless smile, "Your sisters aren't gonna leave."

"Well, then the whole town's in trouble. There's a rogue werewolf, three renegade lamia, and a secret vampire killer wandering around who knows where. And to top things off, two humans who know about the Night World. This is a paranormal _disaster _area."

I paused for a while, trying my hardest not to see things through his eyes. I breathed in slowly and finally spoke up. "So what do you want _me _to do about it?"

"Oh I don't know, why don't we all have a pizza party?" He spoke savagely and then calmed down a bit, adding a more normal sounding, "I have no idea what to do. And you'd better believe I've been thinking about it. The only thing I can think of is taking the girls back with me and lying through our teeth to Quinn."

I honestly couldn't help him there. I bit my lip and looked downward.

"There is...one other possibility." He said. His voice was just above a whisper, quiet enough to pretend I hadn't heard it. It was as if he wouldn't mind if I did. _Okay...I'll bite, Blondie._

I rolled my shoulders a bit, sighing deeply as I closed my eyes and smelled the odor of oil and gasoline. "What would _that _be, Blondie?"

"Stop calling me that." He snapped, "I know you and my sisters did the blood-tie ceremony. It was illegal, but that's beside the point. You're part of the reason they don't want to leave here."

I was about to correct him and tell him that they had left because of how unhappy they had been with Night World life, but he hurried on and left me no room to speak. "But maybe if you were like _us_...we could work something out. I could take the girls back to the island, and then in a few months I could get them out again. We'd go somewhere where no one would know us. No one would notice anything irregular about you. The girls would be happy with you there, and they'd be free. Your brother could come, too." I froze for a second, not even breathing. He was _not _offering me this. No no no. I turned around. I eyed him carefully, keeping my face blank.

The sun brightened his hair, making its tone somewhere between Jade's and Kestrel's. His eyes were dark, and he stood with a sort of graceful lankiness, one hand in his pocket and a pained look on his face. His sharp, angular face. I bit my lip harder.

"If you keep pouting like that you'll spoil your looks for _sure_." I muttered.

"For _God's _sake, don't patronize me!" He yelled. I jumped a bit before frowning at him.

"I _think_," I said, pausing a little for emphasis, "that your suggesting I get turned."

It happened so suddenly that I thought I imagined it: the corner of his mouth jerked upward in an amused almost-smile. "That was the general idea, yes."

"So that your sisters will be happy?" I might have considered it if he had a better reason. Probably not, but there was a definite _might_.

"So that you don't get killed by some vigilante like Quinn." _Wrong again, mister._

"But I'd still be killed if anyone else-like Quinn-found out about me."

"You notice the _if _in that statement?" He asked me, savage tone back. "If we can get away clean, they _wouldn't _find out. Not even Quinn. Even if they did, you'd stand a fighting chance as a vampire."

"So what your saying is that you want me to drop everything I know and love to become a vampire so your sisters can be _happy_."

His eyes widened a fraction before he huffed and turned away to stare at the building across the street, his jaw set tight. "Forget it." He spat.

"Oh don't worry, I wasn't even considering it to begin with."

"Fine." He didn't look back after that, and his eyes stayed unblinking and wide. I had a horrible feeling that I knew why. _Oh no. Don't do this, _please_, I'm not supposed to feel bad for you after _that_._

"Ash..." My voice was a whisper, his name like the hiss of the wind instead of the vibration of vocal chords. He didn't reply, and he didn't acknowledge that I had spoken. Oh god. "I'm _sorry_, Ash." I apologized. And to my surprise...I _actually _meant it. "Look, it's just because everything's been so _weird_. It's so stressful, lately. I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me and that Mrs. Burdock was killed and now it's looking even more like he's the one who _did _it and...he might not even be _human_. I mean, _Jeremy _wasn't. And I don't know what to do. I didn't _ask _for any of this." I stopped, realizing that I was babbling about myself and that he probably couldn't give two shits after I had just shot him down so recently. "I guess...you didn't ask for this either. First three runaway sisters and then...me. Some joke, yeah?"

He was looking at me. An intense stare that said he couldn't quite figure me out no matter how hard he tried. "Yeah," he said finally. "Look...I might as well _tell _you. You're right, I _didn't _ask for this. In fact, if someone had said just last week that I was going to be in..._involved_...with a human, I'd have knocked his head off. I mean, after howls of derisive laughter, but."

And then he stopped. That was all he _needed _to say really. _But_. I blew out a huge breath, puffing out my cheeks and trying to figure out in my crowded and busy mind any other statements that started with _in_...besides the obvious that I wasn't really _willing _to consider at this point.

I looked down at the ground and eyed him from under my eyelashes, "I'm a bad influence on your sisters."

"I only said that to protect you. To _try_, if nothing else."

"I," I started, folding my hands behind my back and giving a small smile, "can protect myself."

"So I've noticed," he said dryly, "does that help?"

"What, the fact that you 'notice'?" I asked, adding air quotes for emphasis. "Not at all. Because no matter what I do I'll _never _be able to prove it to you. You'll always have it in your head that I'm weaker. Even if you don't say it, I can see it in your eyes."

His eyes, speaking of, were a startling and _sparkling _green at the moment, and I almost felt my breath catch. He suddenly looked all too mischievous. "It wouldn't be the case if you were a vampire. Also, you'd know what I was _really _thinking, instead of using other means to _guess_." He held out a slim, pale, elegant hand, "Want a sample?"

I choked on the air I was inhaling all too quickly. When I regained myself enough to speak I said, "We'd better get back or they'll think we've really gone and killed each other."

"Let them." He replied quietly, hand still outstretched. Unable to say anymore I just shook my head quickly and all but ran in the other direction. As I rounded the corner to the gas station, I heard Jade freaking out.,

"I don't care; I can't wait anymore," She was talking to Rowan out on the sidewalk. "I've got to find him, Rowan."

Rowan noticed that Ash and I had returned. He went to her. So did Kestrel, who had been standing near Jeremy. Despite myself and my current boy drama, I felt a little jealous seeing them together. Somehow, I ended up by him, instead. "She thinks Tiggy's gone home." Rowan announced. I looked up to Jeremy, feeling a bit awkward. He was watching me calmly, and his brown eyes soothed me a bit. I smiled.

But then he said something that sent shivers down my spine. "Be careful, Bell."

"Mm?"

"Be _careful_." His eyes shot quickly to the sidewalk. I followed them directly to Ash.

"It's fine," I told him, not knowing how I knew. I just did. Ash was _not _going to hurt me.

"I _know _guys like that," Jeremy continued, eyes burning into mine. "Sometimes they'll bring human girls into their clubs-you don't want to _know _why-so just watch your back around him, alright?" I knew it then; that Ash had most _definitely _done things in his lifetime that would give me nightmares. Things that might make him seem a monster.

"I'll be careful, Jer. You don't have to worry." I nodded seriously, "I can handle him."

I could feel the cold anger and protectiveness that wafted off of him like a wave of ocean water. He did _not _like Blondie. Not one bit. As the others came back, he said aloud, "I'll keep thinking about people around town. I'll let you know if I come up with something useful."

I smiled and touched his arm before walking to the truck, "Thanks Jer. Take care of yourself." We all climbed into the truck and I pulled away slowly. I have a quick wave to Jeremy, but he didn't return it even though he watched as we drove out of sight.

"Okay," Graham let out a breath beside me, "so we go home. _Then _what happens?"

For a while everyone was silent. I tried to think of something useful. "Well lining up the remaining suspects might help. See who we can rule out and who can still be our possible perp."

"Before that, though," Rowan broke in, "We _vampires _need to do something first."

"What?" Graham asked before thinking. He paused and gave a slow nod, "Oh, _gotcha_."

**And there you are. A new chapter after god knows how long. Yell at me all you want, if you're even still paying attention xD. **


	13. Digging up Clues

**And at the end of the week...here it is. Homework sucks, okay? I'm sure that's universal, but I just wanted to re-establish it. I just have a lot of feelings. So, without futher ado, here's your next chappy all fresh, out of the oven and junk. **

**I lied, there is more ado xD**

**I don't own this series or its characters, only Bell, Graham-cracker, and Dante. And you know...Remy and all tose others that might make another appearance at some point. **

**Digging up Clues**

When we returned to the farm, there was still no sign of Tiggy, and the four vampires headed for the woods with Jade calling out for him the whole way. Graham and I headed inside and I grabbed a pad of paper and a fancy pen from Mrs. B's rolltop desk.

"Shall we?" I asked, motioning to the table like I was one of the models on The Price is Right. Graham smirked and nodded.

He had been searching the cupboards, all of them were open. "There's nothing to eat here. A buncha crap and coffee."

"Mm, crap and coffee is the best combination, wouldn't you agree?" I spoke in a horrible British accent, grinning up at my starving brother. He rolled his eyes and sat beside me at the kitchen table.

"So what d'we got, Holmes?" He asked.

"So that horse thing Bunny told us about...lets assume that's our guy. And maybe the same person who broke the window at the gas station." I tapped the pen against the tabletop as I thought.

"Maybe Todd and Vic," Graham grinned playfully.

I whacked his arm, "You ass. That's not helping."

"I mean it. I mean think about it: Todd is always chewing on those toothpicks. We saw those in the goat, too."

That reminded me of something, but I couldn't remember exactly what. Christ, this wasn't helping. I have up and sighed. "Okay, I'll put them down as vamp hunters with a question mark." I paused and thought for a minute. Jeremy was pretty much off the list, but Dante on the other hand...

We didn't know _what_ he was. I put him down as a vampire/vampire hunter. Of course, thoughts of Dante brought on..."Shit...Bunny."

Graham snorted, "Bunny?" He asked. "You're for real? I know you're pissed at her but..."

"_Hey_! That's so _not _what this is about. You know those sticks she uses for her nails? The cuticle sticks. They were stuck in the goat, too. Or something similar."

"Well yeah..." He relented a little, "but this is _Bunny_ we're talking about. She couldn't hurt a bug."

"What about her name? Rowan said it was a lamia name!" He didn't look convinced. "Todd and Vic, Graham, are you _kidding_?"

"Well put her down, then," He rolled his eyes again.

"There was another thing, too. I wanted to ask Rowan about how they wrote to Mrs. B from the island. Maybe that would give us a new suspect that we wouldn't have thought of otherwise." Graham nodded thoughtfully as I said this. We both jumped when the back door banged open.

"Am I the first one back?" Rowan asked, looking windblown and breathless. She was visibly glowing, her hair tumbling around her shoulders.

"Where are the others?" I asked, raising a brow.

"We separated early on. We had to really, with such a small area. The four of us can't effectively hunt together."

Graham smirked, "This is small for you?"

Rowan smiled back, clarifying, "Small for a hunting range. I mean, it's no problem for us. We never used to be able to hunt. They brought us our meals-tranquilized and completely passive."

"_Yikes_," I replied, "You wanna register a guess on Whodunit?"

Rowan settled into a chair, folding a leg under her and smoothing her hair down. "I don't have a clue. Maybe someone we haven't even thought of yet."

"Well, you said that Ash was the only one who could've figured it out-where you were going, I mean. But did you think about the guy who helped you smuggle the letters to your aunt? He would know where she lived, right?"

"Crane Linden," Her smile was tinged with sadness as she spoke his name, and I wondered if I shouldn't have brought it up. "No, he wouldn't know." Her hand rose to her head and she touched two fingers to her temple thoughtfully. I suppressed a smile, thinking of Charles Xavier for a split second. "I'm not quite sure what you call it. I guess you could say he never fully developed mentally...he can't read. But he's very kind."

"Illiterate, you mean?" I asked and she smiled and nodded.

"That's it." She agreed.

"Well...there's another person we can eliminate." I said.

"Wait a second," Graham murmured. "What if...what if Jeremy's uncle isn't really dead. Maybe hiding somewhere. What if he-"

_Tap-tap-crash!_

A loud crash sounded at the front porch, similar to the night we had found the goat. My blood ran cold and we all exchanged glances. _Tiggy!_ I shot up from my seat and ran to the door, throwing it open and wishing to god this wasn't happening.

But...it wasn't the cat that I saw on the front porch. It was a certain blonde male. I felt my stomach twist so hard I thought I might heave. I was suddenly very dizzy, and time seemed to have stopped. If Ash was dead...if something had _killed _Ash...

I didn't know why I felt so jarred. But I suddenly new with fatalistic certainty that nothing would ever be okay again. _I_ would never be okay again. Something had been ripped out of me and could never be replaced. Nothing could ever make up for this. My chest was right and I saw stars on the corners of my vision. I couldn't breathe...I couldn't-

Then Ash moved. Just a little at first, but eventually lifting up his head and pushing up with his arms.

For a second I stood there, dazed, before I realized that I could finally take in air. I tried to shake myself, tried to rid myself of the dizziness I felt. "You alright there, Blondie?" I asked, but my voice was too shaky to come off as nonchalant.

"I fell in this _hole_," He replied with a groan, "What do you think?"

Well...the footsteps of the night before _had _ended with more of a thud than a crash. And for some reason that I couldn't determine, that was important.

From somewhere behind him, Kestrel melted from the shadows, "Having problems, Ash?" She asked sweetly. Her hair was a shimmering gold color and her skin was pale and glowing in the porch light.

Jade followed soon after, looking as if she was floating on air, carrying Tiggy in her arms. "He was up in a tree," she said as she kissed his head, "I had to talk him down."

My gaze switched to Ash, who was standing up and shaking himself. He looked unbelievably beautiful after feeding, as his sisters did. His eyes looked like moonlight on a clear night, and I was caught in them for a split second. I shook myself slightly and stepped away from the door, back into the house. "Well come on in," I murmured, jerking my head towards the kitchen, "Help find out who killed your Aunt." I spun on my heel and headed away without another glance. Now that I knew Ash was fine I wanted to banish the feeling I had had over him a minute ago forever.

"So what's the story?" Kestrel asked in a brisk tone as everyone sat at the kitchen table.

_Morning Glory._ I finished absently in my head, "There isn't one." I eyed the paper in front of me with a frustrated glare. "Okay, so what if we start from the beginning, yeah? So we don't know who did it. We _do _know _how_, and that's the next best thing, right?"

"Right," Rowan agreed with a nod of encouragement.

"So this is what we've got. First off: the goat. Whoever killed the goat had to be strong; no weakling can punch toothpicks into hide. They also know how your Uncle Hodge was killed, because they made a point of doing it the same way. Another thing: they'd have to have a reason for putting the black iris in the goat's mouth-my guess is they're either a member of one of the clubs or they knew Ash was."

"Or they thought that it would represent all lamia, or even all Night People." Ash added, but his voice was muffled because he was bent over rubbing his ankle. "It's a common misconception Outsiders make."

_Nice._ I thought it before I realized that it was a compliment towards _Ash_, of all people. I nodded to show I acknowledged his contribution and moved on. "They'd have to have access to the two different kinds of stakes. But that wouldn't be saying much-you can buy both kinds in town."

"Well, they'd have to have a reason to hate Mrs. B. why kill her otherwise?" Graham piped up, and I nodded to him.

"Mrs. B next, then." I replied, "They'd obviously have to know she's a vampire-they staked her. Second...um..."

"Second they probably killed her on impulse," Ash straightened up, his voice calm and thoughtful. "You _did _say she was stabbed with a picket from the fence. If this was per-meditated they probably would've bought their own stake, or whittled one at least."

"_Nice_." I said it out loud this time. _Hey_, I give credit where credit is due. But still, I felt a flush of embarrassment on my cheeks and I rose my eyes to meet his to gauge his reaction. There was a small twitch of his lips, and for a split second a radiant smile shone there, only long enough for me to register. It was as if it mattered that I had given him praise-like he _cared_. And then I realized it. For the first time in a while, we were just _talking_, albeit we weren't exactly the only ones here, but there wasn't a bit of hostility, animosity, or even the slightest jabbing.

I found it...comfortable, being with him like this. And even stranger yet, I found that I knew he felt similar. Somewhere along the line, we had begun to understand one another. We were in a kind of sync. Over the table, eyes still locked, he gave the briefest, slightest nod that I was sure only I caught.

We sat there for hours, together. All of us gave our input, arguing and debating and working together to solve this seemingly insolvable crime. At some point I had the good sense to look up at the clock and then, _only_ then did I realize that it was too close for comfort to midnight.

"Oh jesus, no wonder I'm so exhausted." I muttered, burying my head in my arms.

Graham gave a very audible groan from beside me. "Do we _have _to keep thinking?" He grumbled crankily, "I'm no good when I'm stupid."

"Which is all the time, Graham-cracker," I teased, screwing up his hair with a hand. He whacked it away with a small smile.

"Shut up." He offered half-heartedly.

"_Somehow_, I get the feeling we won't be solving the murder mystery tonight," Kestrel spoke up. Her eyes were shut.

She was completely right, extremely so. But as tired as I was...sleeping wasn't appealing to me at the moment.

"If there weren't a psychopathic goat killer on the loose I'd go for a walk." I muttered quietly.

"I'll go with you," Ash offered, his tone sounded like he thought that was the most normal thing to say. Kestrel and Jade were evidently as shocked as I was, their eyes wide as plates as they stared at their brother. I caught Rowan bending her head, not quite able to hide her smile.

"Uh..." I said stupidly, and I inwardly smacked myself.

"_Look_...I don't actually think that the killer is out there /every second/ searching for another innocent victim. But if anything does come up, I can handle it." He flinched a bit, "I meant _we_. You know...strength in numbers."

I actually smiled at that feeble attempt. "You get points for trying," I told him with a small chuckle. There was a truth to his words, though. He was bigger, faster, and stronger. I figured he knew how to get rough if he needed to.

Although...I'd never actually _seen _that, had I. All those times I'd attacked him and he'd never once tried to defend himself or get revenge. Had he ever even _thought _of it?

"Sure, I guess that's cool." I agreed finally, standing. Graham gave me a look, but I patted his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. "It'll be chill. I promise."

So Ash and I exited the premises, taking my truck. He asked if we weren't just going to my hill, and I told him there was a better place for a walk further out. He relented easily and I drove on, the quiet sound of Bon Jovi the only disturbance in the small quarters of that vehicle.

**Whew, now that **_**that's **_**over with. I'm going to **_**sleep**_**. They weren't the only ones up way past their internal clocks' sleepy time. xD Review, eh? I don't even know if people are still reading this... :P**


	14. Important: Read to keep the story going

** Okay, y'all, listen up. I've been going over this story and I decided that I just really don't like how I went about writing it. I understand you were probably expecting an update, but if you are willing to wait a bit longer I can give you something better (hopefully): a whole rewrite of the entire fanfic. Since I've written it once already (well, most of it…) it shouldn't take as long to get chapters done, but shit happens. **

** I wanna thank all of you who have stuck with me even though I suck at updating on time and constantly go on unannounced hiatuses. I'm ridiculous, but you liked my writing enough to stay. Hopefully you'll put up with my antics just long enough for me to get you hooked on the rewrite. Seriously, I can't express enough how awesome you all are. **

** Don't expect the story to be exactly the same but better written, but don't expect a complete 180 with every detail, either. My characters will be a little different, nothing big (Age, race, etc.). Other than that, not much should be different. Just didn't want to shock you too much if Bell's name changes and you don't understand who I'm talking about. **

** So, with that being said, for those of you who don't follow me as an author, I'll post another author's note on here with the title and everything after I upload it. I'd appreciate reads, and reviews even more. **

**Thanks once more, guys, you put up with way too much of my shit and I love ya for it. **

**-Mackie **


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